He likes me, right?
by BeeJay.W
Summary: Nishinoya and Asahi have started dating, but their relationship has made no progress at all. What does Nishinoya do when he gets frustrated about it? *M rating is for later chapters*
1. Chapter 1

Seven high-school boys huddled around the convenience store freezer, internally debating which ice-cream they would buy with their somewhat limited allowances. It wasn't uncommon for them to stop by the Foothill Store after practice, but lately they'd been frequently joined by their new club supervisor, Takeda.

He was small, thin, had unruly short black hair and wore wire-rimmed glasses. He had an air-headed sort of smile that made him seem dim-witted yet he was in fact quite knowledgeable, citing entire sentences or paragraphs of poetry or histories as encouragement speeches prior to matches. He was, after all, a teacher.

However, his knowledge about volleyball in the beginning had been poor to say the least. He had improved considerably after very persistently pestering Ukai Keishin to be team coach. A blond haired, cigarette smoking man who looked like a delinquent but was actually quite soft-hearted, though occasionally sharp-tongued. His family owned the convenience store, and being both the manager and the volleyball coach at Karasuno he had a packed schedule. Though he sometimes complained, his passion for volleyball was second-to-none.

Takeda-sensei had put a substantial amount of blame on himself after their loss at the inter-high preliminaries, saying things like 'if I'd just been able to come up with better plays' or 'if only I could have helped devise counter-attacks.' Of course, no-one on the team felt the need to blame their sulking sensei except the man himself. It was due to this self-deprecation and will-to-improve that had Takeda-sensei visiting coach Ukai's store.

The bespectacled, mousy man balanced precariously on a rickety stool that Ukai had brought out from the back of the store, sitting at the wall-end of the customer side of the counter. He gazed avidly at the static image of a volleyball match he'd seen more than a dozen times as it played out on the ancient analogue TV. It was at odds with the contrastingly modern DVD player attached to it. Ukai had put aside the shoujo manga he had been reading, focusing on the informal lesson. Without warning he paused it. "Did you see what happened there?"

Takeda-sensei look perplexedly between Ukai's expectant gaze and the frozen image on the screen, shrugging his shoulders apologetically after a moment. Reaching forward for the remote, Ukai rewound slightly, pointing at one of the players. "Don't worry about not seeing it before, I only just noticed myself, but y'see this guy here's position?…" Ukai disguisedly consoled whilst proceeding to explain to his attentive student. He occasionally cast somewhat bothered glances at the students still loitering around the freezers, noisy as a flock.

The teens had finished evening practice not 20 minutes ago, and their sweat-dampened hair still clung to their scalps, faces flush from recent exertion. They were still in their gym shirts printed with their team name, 'Karasuno,' on the left side above their hearts.

They chattered and jested amiably amongst themselves, in no particular hurry to leave the air-conditioned store. The had begun betting on how much longer it would be before coach Ukai finally got fed up with their nonsense and exiled them. Until tomorrow afternoon, at least. They'd be back.

Standing apart from the group of seven were two other team-mates, who seemed annoyed to say the least at being persuaded to join their team for ice-cream. It was normal for Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to hang back from the camaraderie.

At first the tall, blond, bespectacled Tsukishima had always managed to slip away and not be with the team longer than the necessary practice hours, so the fact he was there at all showed immense personal growth. His unassuming fawner, Yamaguchi, was a little kinder and had probably only avoided the rest of the team because of his closest friends' example. He followed Tsukishima everywhere. Yamaguchi was an ordinary looking boy; brown-haired, gangly and face sprinkled in freckles.

Some stage earlier the pair had already chosen and purchased their lemonade popsicles. They were already down to the last few centimetres, sticks nearly completely exposed and prizes already revealed. Tsukishima had won a 2nd popsicle, and not wanting it he handed the bare stick to his companion, promptly shoving his hands in pockets as if he'd been itching to do so. Yamaguchi beamed and the tall blond, as always, feigned ignorance with a pouty sigh.

Looking at the group, with a click of his tongue Tsukishima huffed "geez, you guys take so long to pick. We're done, so we're leaving. Don't expect me to hang around tomorrow either." With that the blond sauntered out of the store with Yamaguchi in tow, who waved farewell back at the rest of the team. Daichi, the coffee-skinned team captain, having caught the wave responded in kind. He commented to ash-blond vice-captain Sugawara sceptically "is it just me, or did Tsukishima actually say something like 'see you tomorrow?'"

Sugawara chuckled in that gentle manner he had, replying "I suppose so. Could have said it a little more nicely, but we'll have to settle for now. I mean, considering he always used to leave without saying a thing, that is if he even tagged along." Daichi nodded in agreement before snapping at his team, not unkindly, "really though, hurry up already! Some of us take study seriously!"

Buzz-cut Tanaka chipped in with an aggravated growl, "not those other three traitors who decided to go on a group date! A date! That pisses me off so much! They weren't even considerate enough to invite the handsome _moi_!" Everyone on the team repressed chuckles, which only seemed to infuriate hot-blooded Tanaka all the more. Just as he was about to add something else in an attempt to quell his team-mates laughter, likely to only set them off more, Sugawara interrupted "maybe they thought you'd take all the spotlight. Everyone needs their own fun, sometimes." The setter was obviously suppressing laughter as he spoke, but Tanaka seemed satiated by the words.

"Well… yeah, out of the goodness of my gentle heart I'll let this one pass! Just you watch, I'm going to make them so jealous when I have girls flocking to me next valentines! Booyah, payback time!" After that and some extreme eye-rolling on his team-mates parts, nearly everyone zoned-out Tanaka's verbal fantasizing of opening his locker to an avalanche of chocolates and love letters, even though valentine's was still months away. Tanaka's obsession with getting a girlfriend was something they were well-accustomed to and had heard about more than a million times.

After Daichi's prompting, the rest of the team finally settled on what they were getting. Orange-haired ball-of-energy Hinata, however, whined "I like all the flavours, this is so hard to choose!" With a glance from Daichi Hinata deflated somewhat. "Hmm… I guess I'll go with a Golden Gaytime."

With bland derision, charcoal-haired Kageyama snickered.

Hinata, going pink with embarrassment and annoyance barely spoke the first syllable of an indignant reply when Kageyama shrugged and half-sighed "I might get one of them, too."

Puffing his cheeks out with a disgruntled pout and no longer having any reason to be annoyed, Hinata cast Kageyama a curious look. Kageyama just grumbled as if reluctantly admitting one of his darkest secrets "it is actually pretty good, especially the biscuit crumbs." The short spiker brightened with an "I know right? It goes so well with the chocolate and vanilla ice-cream!" and proceeded to grab a second Gaytime, tossing it to Kageyama who deftly caught it. Hinata had already begun making his way to the counter, rummaging through his backpack all the while when he suddenly froze. With an increasingly distressed expression he finally stilled as if giving up with a great realization. With a face as if he'd just been told he couldn't play volleyball ever again he whined "I… I think I left my wallet in the classroom," ready but unwilling to return the ice-cream to the freezer

Kageyama's brows pulled together slightly, seemingly about to say something when Nishinoya noisily interjected "No need to worry, Hinata. After all, Noya-senpai is going to pay for you today!" as he exuberantly pet Hinata on the back. Hinata delightedly beamed "Thanks, Noya-senpai!" as he gazed at his ice-cream and Nishinoya with pure happiness and admiration. The gel-haired libero chuckled, flicking his blond fringe aside with a wink and smoothly bragging "it's only natural, seeing as I'm such a great senpai." Hinata's head bobbed in enthusiastic agreement with a chirpy 'Noya-senpai!' as Nishinoya slid the cash across the counter to Ukai, paying for both his and Hinata's ice-creams. His face scrunched in barely repressed sorrow as he thought 'dammit, now I'm broke. The lengths I go to…'

Tanaka, having witnessed this exchange, broke his tirade about girls to pester Hinata, eagerly offering to buy something else his junior wanted in exchange for being called '-senpai.' The collective internal sigh was almost audible.

Asahi was the last to pay, still conversing with Daichi and Sugawara about organising a study session for their literature class. Everyone who'd been waiting for the trio moved as a horde to exit at once, Ukai's joking 'good riddance!' chasing them out before he continued explaining something to Takeda-sensei, gesticulating. Probably some tactic.

The small gathering stopped a short distance up and across the road at a bus-stop, unwrapping the crinkling plastic to devour the contents. Nishinoya ventured over to Asahi, who was the only one actually seated, noting casually "you got chocolate. Well, it is your favourite after all," with a warm grin.

Asahi's shoulders seemed to come up around his ears as if trying to shield himself, definitely not making eye contact with the libero and otherwise not responding. Feeling the tic of annoyance at his temple, Nishinoya plonked down on the opposite end of the bench as far away from the shrunken giant as possible, trying to convey how displeased he was without drawing attention from his other team-mates.

He violently bit into the ice-cream, making his teeth ache, but at least it distracted him from the way Asahi was plainly ignoring him and had been for more than two weeks. Just the thought made a crease form between his brows.

If you asked anyone to describe Nishinoya Yuu, some words that come to mind would be optimistic, bubbly, energetic, strong-willed and tough.

However lately if you looked closely enough it was pretty easy to notice the forced quality to his too-wide grins and exuberant laughter. He looked to Asahi in his peripheral vision, suppressing the nagging desperation and frustration and no longer enjoying the taste of tangy-sweet strawberry.

'Gotta keep smiling. Come on, Yuu, you can do it.''

So when Hinata yelled "gwaa! Brain freeze! Brain freeze!" he seized upon it, lifting the heavy corners of his mouth into a grin as Kageyama scowled at the smaller boy and retorted "eat slower, dumbass, it's your own fault you've got brain freeze, don't go shouting about it. You're not getting any sympathy from me."

Hinata pouted, looking mildly upset before he amused himself by poking Kageyama between his eyebrows and teasing "you're going to get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that!"

Kageyama swatted his hand away, in a clipped tone replying "I would say you're going to get dumber if you keep being such a dumbass, but it's already impossible for you to get any dumber. If we were talking in wrinkle-terms you'd be a dried prune, because they're impossibly wrinkly, just like you're impossibly idiotic."

"Kageyama, that's so mean!" snivelled Hinata. Soon enough he seemed to be over it, pondering aloud around a mouthful of ice-cream "ah, but you're a prune, too, right baka-yama?"

Kageyama then proceeded to crush Hinata's skull while giving him a death glare, unrelenting to the smaller boys yells of "ow ow ow!" until he yelled "sorry, sorry!"

The third-years chuckled at the antics of the pair, even Nishinoya felt a little amused despite his downtrodden state at the way Hinata dashed to hide behind Tanaka. Of course, the buzz-cut smirked righteously. Kageyama continued to glare daggers at Hinata as if Tanaka didn't exist, and Hinata ducked out momentarily, poking his tongue with a 'blegh!'

Somewhat cheered up, Nishinoya brightly exclaimed "oh man, but this really hits the spot. It's so warm today." His main intention was to get Asahi to at least acknowledge that he'd said anything, but sneaking a glance sideways, it was a failure. His smile faltered, but when he noticed Sugawara's narrowed eyes as if searching for a hidden meaning he plastered it back on, hoping the ash-blond hadn't found anything strange. It wasn't implausible that Sugawara had observed that miniscule moment of weakness, but if he did, he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he added on to what Nishinoya had said. "Good point actually, about it being warmer. Summer is pretty close now, so we'll need to be more attentive to how much we drink. It's important to stay hydrated in summer, especially because we're doing a lot of physical activity."

"Another good point," Daichi begins, whole group now listening, "it's nearly dark, so if you plan on hanging around a while more just make sure you don't stay out too late. Our practice matches may be next week, but that doesn't mean you can exhaust yourself this week by staying up too late or over-preparing."

"Besides, it's dangerous, to stay out on dark streets" added Sugawara, smirking at something private. Nishinoya, being mostly outside the circle of friends, noticed the tiny elbow Daichi poked into Sugawara's side as if he were saying 'shut up.'

"That too," Daichi affirmed, casting Sugawara a warning glare as he and Tanaka climbed onto the newly arrived bus with "I'll text you about the study session later Suga and Asahi. See you all tomorrow at 7a.m."

When the bus disappeared, Sugawara smiled "don't worry, you won't have to get up so early every morning all next week. He wanted it to be a surprise, but we get a recuperation day and a half before the match. There'll be a morning practice next Friday, but none in the afternoon. Better be prepared for some super intense practice before that, though. Remember to keep up with homework, too."

There was a chorus of pained groans at that. They could only imagine how fierce training was going to be if they were going to get a whole two days off. It was on every face. 'They're demons.' Hinata was more visibly distressed at the reminder of homework, and Kageyama, though not as expressive, seemed just as distressed. Sugawara chuckled at that. "Well then, I guess I'll head off, too. Have an essay due in two days," he explained.

As if Daichi and Sugawara had been the glue holding them there, the group began to disperse.

Sugawara went alone, heading toward the more populated area near the centre of town. Heading home was the only time many of them ever saw Sugawara without Daichi by his side.

Hinata walked down the road alongside Kageyama, walking his bicycle on one side and talking animatedly to Kageyama on the other, feud from a few minutes ago forgotten. Kageyama had this look on his face that said he'd much rather be anywhere else but he seemed to be listening to Hinata's every word.

Neither Nishinoya nor Asahi had moved from the bench yet, and trying to avoid the heavy atmosphere that settled over them, Nishinoya decided to watch the oddball duo until they were out of sight. He vaguely noted that Kageyama had already walked past his house, only a short 200 metres from where his upperclassman sat, continuing on by Hinata's side. They stopped where the road forked another 50 metres up. One road continuing further into the residential district and the other going steeply downhill, appearing in the distance as it wound up the side of the mountain, path barely visible now that dark had nearly fallen.

They continued to talk for a minute or two, and that was normal enough. Hinata mounted his bike in preparation for take-off, obviously nearing the end of his tirade about which ice-creams were good and why. Nishinoya could vaguely hear Hinata's voice even from this distance, and there was no mistaking what happened next.

Even from this distance Nishinoya could clearly see how Kageyama reached out to Hinata, grabbing his arm and unbalancing the smaller boys bike. The first thing that went through his mind was a joking 'Oh great, Hinata must have said something to piss him off again.'

What Nishinoya didn't expect was Kageyama drawing Hinata even closer until the bike slipped from under him as he over-balanced, Kageyama catching him whilst swooping his head down. Sure, they'd head butted one-another on plenty of occasions when fed-up with one-another, but this was so obviously different. Hinata didn't go stumbling backwards clutching his forehead and shrieking. Instead, he went rigid, then seemed to meld against Kageyama.

Dumbstruck, reeling and frankly ashamed at seeing something he shouldn't have, Nishinoya quickly focused on his shoes. He only then noted in his peripheral vision how Asahi seemed even more tense than he had been before.

Unable to settle after what he'd just seen but curiosity overwhelming him, Nishinoya peered back at where Hinata and Kageyama still stood. Hinata was pushing Kageyama away, not seeming to really mean it judging by the fact Kageyama's hands were still at the smaller boys waist, and by the nervous laugh that echoed up to Nishinoya and Asahi. Hinata reached up with one hand between them, flicking Kageyama playfully in the forehead, this time reaching his own face up to meet Kageyama's, it seemed, reassuringly. Kageyama let go and Hinata picked up his bike, remounting it. He waved over his shoulder as he pedalled away furiously. Kageyama's figure seemed frozen, almost as dumbstruck as Nishinoya was feeling while watching this play out. After Hinata disappeared from sight, Kageyama did something extremely amusing.

He pumped his fist as if silently shouting 'yes!'

The first year duo had been completely oblivious to their surroundings, senpai watching on in silent astonishment. Yet after looking around as if now of all times was when he needed to make sure no-one could see, Nishinoya could pinpoint the moment when Kageyama realised his mistake. While it had darkened quite a bit, Asahi and Nishinoya were still visible to Kageyama, who obviously saw them, turning his head down and practically running to his house.

Face red with his own embarrassment and Kageyama's second hand embarrassment, overcome with the pregnant silence in the bus-stop, Nishinoya grasped at straws for anything to say, finding nothing but jumbled words. "So, uh… interesting development, don't you think? I… You… I mean, what do you think about, y'know? K-kissing… and stuff…" he finished lamely, mentally face-palming.

Asahi shot upright out of his seat, frantically squeaking out "I-I'm gonna go home now!" while stumbling over his own feet as he hurried away, leaving Nishinoya to flop back against the bench, dejected and covering his eyes with his palms as if he had a migraine.

'Goddammit… shit… what a dumb thing to say. He's been avoiding me since after we started… being a couple. I don't even need to ask, of course he doesn't want to kiss me, he doesn't even like me that way, after all. Dumb, dumb, dumb! Ah man, now I just feel bad.' Nishinoya worried. 'I know we agreed to date, but… if it's like this… ugh, I bet he wants to break up but doesn't want to hurt my feelings or something. I bet he never really liked me in the first place. It's all my fault, I should never have said anything. He only agreed out of obligation or some shit 'cause he's too nice to say no' he grouched glumly, standing like his shoulders were weighted down as he head for his own house. 'I should save myself all this… emotional trouble… just end it, for his sake too. He's obviously uncomfortable.' His recurring thought once again ran through his distraught mind. 'He probably only agreed because I asked, spur of the moment thing. Dammit.'

'I wish he liked me as much as I like him.'


	2. Chapter 2

Nishinoya gave a worn out yawn. After a week of restless sleep and waking up an hour before his alarm, he was surprised he was still doing ok at practice.

Every other morning he'd hung around at home until it was time to leave, and had been arriving to practice early. Sugawara had commented to him on multiple occasions that it was good he was starting to take getting to practice on time seriously and to 'keep up the good work.' He'd just smiled and nodded and pretended it was on purpose.

He had no clue why he chose today of all days to go to school more than 30 minutes before 7 when for the last week he had been arriving only 5 minutes early. Probably because he was bored and had been dwelling too much on trivial things in a dark, silent house.

He couldn't recall a time when he'd been awake so early. He'd never before had the chance to look at the early morning scenery.

Weak, diluted rays of sunlight barely peeked over the roof-tops. As it hit the school oval at just the right angle the dew-covered grass seemed to glisten as if the ground were covered in snow. Already it was evaporating, forming a low-clinging thin mist which swirled with invisible currents. He knew that in no time at all this scenery would disappear as the sun rose higher.

Nishinoya dragged his feet on the concrete as he stifled another yawn into his elbow, feeling like he needed to be quiet, as if making a single noise was wrong and he'd be somehow ruining everything.

Reaching the door to the gym, he gave a gentle yank on the handle in an attempt to slide it open. It clattered quietly but remained stubbornly locked. 'Ah, of course. Daichi needs to unlock it, and he's not here yet.'

Resigning himself to wait for another half an hour, Nishinoya sat on the shaded concrete step, curling foetal position and shivering slightly. It always amazed him how days could be so hot while nights were so cold.

He checked his phone every long minute, and with a grunt of effort stood again. 'At least near the clubroom I can get some sun to warm me up a bit. I guess I'll wait there for everyone.'

The early morning atmosphere made his brain pleasantly fuzzy while he thought of nothing in particular, strolling around the side of the gym and towards the back. He climbed the metal steps to the second storey of the clubroom complex without a creak and leaned on the railing, finally warming up as he was bathed in soft sun. With nothing else to do now, his mind quickly wandered.

'Every romance movie or TV show out there, ever, has that one scene where the couple are all mushy and gross as they watch the sun rise together.' Nishinoya sighed heavily with a twinge in his chest as those thoughts led to Asahi. He dropped his head as if it suddenly weighed a ton. 'Romance is a total lie. How do people even think up that load of rubbish…'

Of course, he hadn't been able to help imagining on more than one occasion what a sunset date would be like, and his mind slipped into the same old lazy daydream.

He and Asahi would bring a picnic blanket and a pizza to a park. They both liked pizza, and they were both guys, they didn't need to pretend to be petite and cute because they weren't. They could gorge themselves on junk as much as they want and not think any less of the other. In fact, they'd probably try see who could eat the most, until they were so full they were nearly sick, which would be hilarious of course. After they had finished stuffing their faces and all content and too full to move, they would just lie on the blanket side-by-side and doze for a while, until it got dark and cold and it was time to head home. It would be nice.

So would a sunrise.

Waking up earlier over the last week had turned Nishinoya's thought to this more often than it ever had. He'd imagined waking up on a morning like one of those, while the sky faded from navy to orange and lavender then whitish blue as Asahi cuddled him. The thought had made his stomach tingle pleasantly, a little embarrassed but craving it nonetheless. He'd snuggled deeper into his warm blankets and pretended the warmth was emanating from Asahi, just bathing in the good vibes. Once or twice he'd had to fix a minor 'problem' when his imagination turned a little adult.

A dumb grin of shameful glee threatened to overcome Nishinoya, and he slapped his hand over his mouth as if someone would see it and tease him.

However, he didn't need to hide it for long. As quickly as it had surfaced it was quashed by the realization 'yeah right, that'd never happen. Ah man, I'm too tired and it's making me dumb…er than usual.'

'But oh my god, slap me. That was so cheesy it could make a margherita pizza.'

For a distraction, he pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolling through his newsfeed even though there was nearly never anything interesting. His password was AceAsahi. He looked over his shoulder, half expecting someone to be there even though he knew he was alone. It would be mortifying if anyone knew just how whipped he was. 'I mean, using his name as my password? Pft.' He remembered a time when he would have sniggered at people who did something like that, but he'd come to understand.

Hesitantly, and feeling as if he was losing something, Nishinoya changed his password. It only upset him every time he typed it in.

Since the kissing incident last Thursday, he'd been mulling something over, and better timing couldn't have presented itself.

Today, Friday, they had no afternoon practice. All week they'd added morning practices to their usual regime in order to prepare for the upcoming practice match on Sunday. As Sugawara had said, Daichi was also giving them a whole day off to rest and recuperate on Saturday. Come Sunday they'd be at optimal condition to perform and win the match.

Nishinoya was going to need the recuperation day for more than just some physical aches. After all, he was going to end things with Asahi at some stage during the day. 'A day should be plenty of time to get over it. Not that Asahi will have anything to get over,' grumbled Nishinoya, once again checking the time. There was still more than 20 minutes until practice was scheduled to start, and he was regretting his decision to arrive too early as he buried his purpling hands in his armpits. Even if he was bored at home, at least it was warm.

There was a series of heavy shuffling noises, dull, but obvious. Nishinoya whipped his head around at the sudden sound, looking for the source. There was another sound. 'That sounds... Like a person? Where is it coming from?'

Straining his ears for a minute he could barely make out the constant, rhythmic sound.

Startling him, there resounded a low, indistinct breathy moan. 'No no no, I'm hearing things. It's just this old building making noise.'

But it happened again, and again, going at a certain pace for a few minutes before growing even louder, breathier and erratic. Then silence reigned after a particularly loud lascivious groan, and Nishinoya swallowed drily. There was no mistaking it for what it was, and where. Frozen in shock the whole time, unable to block out the sound of what was so obviously people having sex in the volleyball clubroom, Nishinoya grew dizzy as blood rushed to his face at the sound of the climax. 'Ho. Ly. Shit.'

He scrambled to hide, knowing that any moment now those two lovebirds would start moving around again. He didn't want to be discovered loitering outside, and by now he had a fair idea of just who they were and kinda didn't want to die.

He'd barely started leaving when the curtain swooshed open to reveal a dishevelled Sugawara, who immediately started looking humiliated as his face reddened. Their eyes held for a moment before Sugawara jumped as if someone he'd forgotten was there had spoken. The setter frantically tried closing the curtains but a tan hand pushed it open again to reveal a playful smirk that said 'are you hiding something?' but the fond expression immediately dropped from Daichi's face as he blanched at the sight of the libero.

Faster than he'd ever seen the captain move, Daichi ducked out of sight and was immediately throwing the door open with so much force it would have swung back and hit him square in the face if his arm wasn't still extended. Breathless with distress and from his recent activities, red high on his cheeks Daichi rushed "howmuchdidyouhear?Didyouseeanything?Don'tmentionthistoasinglesoul!"

Nishinoya stared blankly at the captain and vice-captain for a moment, unable to resist the urge to laugh so hard he was asphyxiating himself. "You should see your faces!" he managed to gasp between shaky breaths. Daichi's face went from horror-struck to puzzled, then to pissed off. The glare he gave the younger boy cut him short.

Nishinoya cleared his throat, hurriedly regaining his composure to mumble in a squeaky voice "um, I was early... I didn't mean to... But I heard pretty much everything." Kneading his hands as he shrugged apologetically, Nishinoya shrunk in on himself under the weight of Daichi's fearsome stare.

But he knew he needed to say something else, something to reassure them. In as confident, genuine a voice he could muster Nishinoya said "I swear I won't tell anyone! I don't have anything against you guys being in that sort of relationship! Actually I'm really glad for you!"

The duo exchanged taken-aback glances, and Daichi scratched the back of his head, deflating. Abashedly he offered "uh, thanks, I guess."

Once again turning stern, Daichi continued "but if I ever find out that you've told anyone about this, I swear I'll... I'll kick you off the team."

Sugawara gave Daichi an incredulous look as he elbowed the tan boy in the ribs. "Daichi!"

Nishinoya had much the same reaction. "You wouldn't!"

Casting an injured look to Sugawara and rubbing at his side, Daichi's composure fell with a sigh. "Of course not, what would we do without you?"

Sugawara looked immensely pleased at that, and Nishinoya couldn't help notice how a dumb smile flitted across Daichi's face.

The underlying fondness between them was blindingly obvious, and Nishinoya felt himself grow envious.

There was a heavy silence, none of them knowing what to say now that they'd gotten that out of the way. Tucking his hands deep in his pockets, Sugawara awkwardly huffed "pretty cold this morning."

Nishinoya seized on the topic with relief. "Yeah, it looked like it had been snowing overnight!"

The both of them looked only too grateful. Daichi chipped in "really? It's nearly summer."

"It's so weird, right?" Nishinoya added.

Daichi and Sugawara nodded, taking the topic more seriously than it warranted. There was silence again for a moment, and Nishinoya apprehensively decided to enter the clubroom. Captain and vice-captain exchanged fidgety, frightened glances as they followed him in, not having had the time to air the room out.

Being a healthy young man, Nishinoya unmistakably identified the musky odour, refraining himself from crinkling his nose. Making his way to his locker, he ignored the mussed towel laid out in a corner of the room which Sugawara eagerly stuffed away. Nishinoya didn't comment on how they subtly opened the windows as they continued their banter.

He didn't want to say or do anything that would make his senpai more embarrassed than they already were.

As Nishinoya changed into his uniform, the conversation died out. Finished tying his shoelaces, Nishinoya straightened determinedly, putting on his most casual face as he remarked, scratching his head as if confused "it's strange, I can't remember anything from the last 10 minutes."

He saw how what he was doing dawned on their faces, and Sugawara barely held back an appreciative grin as he replied, thoughtful "that doesn't sound too good, you should get it checked out."

Nishinoya laughed heartily, conking himself on the head jokingly. "Maybe I ran into a teacher and they started giving me a lecture about some boring class or telling me when that next assignment is due. I always zone out at times like those." Sugawara snorted, then turned to hide his laughter.

Nishinoya looked to Daichi, who gave him a meaningful look. The libero waved it off, and Daichi rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything more.

It seemed not a minute had passed before everyone else started pouring in, starting with Ennoshita.

When Asahi arrived, Nishinoya only muttered a casual 'good morning,' unable to bring himself to look him in the face. It would make it harder to do what needed to be done. He distracted himself by talking to the other 2nd years, which worked surprisingly well.

As it turned out, all three of them that had gone on the group date last week had managed to nab a girlfriend. Nishinoya hadn't talked to anyone much about matters outside practice, so it was a little bit shocking. The libero slapped them on the backs, congratulating them and exclaiming how cute the girls were when each timidly presented pictures of them on their phones.

Tanaka, entering the room just as everyone was closing their lockers to head to the gym, draped himself over Ennoshita's shoulder to peek at the picture with a wolf-whistle. "As smokin' as the last time I saw her. You really outdid yourself bro."

Ennoshita turned red as a tomato and shrugged Tanaka off, pulling his jacket up over his ears to hide all of his face except his eyes and forehead.

Just as Daichi was sliding the door to the gym open, Hinata and Kageyama came roaring across the school grounds, literally yelling their lungs out as their arms and legs pumped furiously. Everyone jumped out of the way just in time for the duo to go shooting like missiles into the gym, skidding to a halt. They both turned and looked expectantly at the spectators, and Daichi solemnly declared "the winner is Hinata." The orange-haired spiker exulted loudly, bouncing as high as his legs would propel him. Kageyama swiped at Hinata, who ducked nimbly out of reach after poking his tongue out at the first-year setter.

Kageyama, looking ticked off, tried again only to be evaded. "You cheated! You started too early!"

"Did not!" retorted Hinata indignantly. "You're just slow! I won fair and square!"

"Come back here and say that without moving you little shi-" began Kageyama, before Daichi snapped scoldingly "Shut it! It's too early for that kind of language!"

Hinata drooped like a puppy, all wide-eyed and keen to please as Daichi instructed, pointing "you! Go bring out one of the bins of balls. Kageyama, you get the poles for the net and help Asahi string it up."

The duo elbowed one another the whole way to the storage room.

When they reappeared, Nishinoya bounded over, forcing Kageyama to bend to his height as he tipped him a knowing wink. The coal-haired boy growled as if to say 'shut up,' looking furious, but the way his ears turned pink gave away his embarrassment, as if his parents had just got out the naked baby pictures. The libero chuckled, and Kageyama looked uncharacteristically childish in his bashfulness.

Nishinoya looked to Hinata, who had stopped a short distance away to watch the scene play out with an unwavering gaze. Nishinoya wasn't sure what it was, maybe a certain pull to his kouhai's mouth and brows, but all he knew was that Hinata was getting jealous. He immediately relinquished his grip on the taller boy, and the tension left Hinata, who continued on his way.

Nishinoya waited until the little spiker was out of earshot before turning to Kageyama again and saying "I take it he doesn't know I know?"

The setter wore a puzzled scowl, and Nishinoya clarified. "Did you really not notice how jealous he was just now? He wouldn't be like that if he knew I knew you were taken."

Kageyama's scowl seemed to radiate happiness at the revelation that Hinata was jealous for him, though shy that Nishinoya wasn't beating around the bush. "I-I was going to say something, but..." Kageyama mumbled uncertainly, giving a helpless shrug. "I didn't want to upset him."

Nishinoya grinned, patting Kageyama on the shoulder and earnestly saying "well, as long as you guys are happy, it doesn't really matter whether I know or not. Now go string up that net, I feel like someone's staring at us and waiting for you."

Kageyama was the epitome of self-consciousness as he joined Asahi in stringing up the net.

Bringing out the spiking practice boards, Nishinoya contemplated how only a few weeks ago, he would have been completely oblivious to Hinata's subtle expression. 'I might be a little hypersensitive to emotions at the moment, seeing how emotional I've been lately.'

As his mind strayed unbidden to Asahi, he found his eyes following also, dragging over those well-defined muscles moving beneath the tan skin on those impossibly long, strong arms.

He quickly averted his gaze with a shake of his head, throwing himself wholeheartedly into practice.

When they were nothing more than friends, Nishinoya and Asahi would wait for one another to finish changing after practice and afterwards accompany the other to their locker, an unspoken pact of friendship. It hadn't happened in a while.

The bell signalling class started in 10 minutes had rung, and the locker bay was packed with chattering students as they gathered their books for their first class. Nishinoya spotted Asahi at his locker as he walked past an aisle and retraced his steps. 'As good a time as any, I suppose. You know what they say, if you're going to rip of a bad-aid it's best to do it quickly.'

He found his way through the throng of bodies to the person he was seeking. Everyone around Asahi gave him a wide berth, and his neighbours waited off to the side for him to leave, terrified of his appearance.

Asahi was over 6 feet tall, had long, dark brown hair that was usually tied into a loose bun, and a stubble covered jaw. The way he looked frequently gave people the wrong impression. For example, it had earned him the ridiculous title of Biggest Badass at Karasuno. The team sometimes joked about it, and Asahi would get all flustered and draw into himself like a hermit crab while stammering about how he only wanted to look cool so he had more confidence. 'Y'know what they say: Look cool, feel cool.' His shyness was his most endearing and, frankly, adorable trait.

Asahi hadn't noticed him yet, so Nishinoya drew a little closer, clearing his throat and casually beginning "hey."

The libero could have sworn the spiker nearly jumped out of his skin, literally jumping so violently he crashed into his locker and tilted the entire section dangerously. He scrambled to grab the lockers and right them, but the cacophony of clatters and thuds from the other side, along with groans of exasperation and annoyance made it obvious that plenty of belongings had gone crashing to the floor. A few girls even screeched over-dramatically.

Asahi shrank in on himself, looking as if he wished he could teleport, distressed at the trouble he'd caused. Remembering that Nishinoya was standing in front of him seemed to distress him even more, though.

His eyes skittered all over the place, stubbornly looking anywhere but Nishinoya's face.

The spiky-haired 2nd year grimaced bitterly, muttering under his breath "wow, you must really not like me much, huh?"

The older boy didn't seem to hear, or to even be listening in the first place.

Increasing his volume slightly, but only loud enough for the two of them to hear, Nishinoya snapped, hurt, "whatever, if you hate being around me so much you don't have to worry about it anymore. There's no point continuing... Whatever. Later." He swivelled on his feet, stalking off as evenly as possible on weak legs.

Proud he didn't trip over his own feet and at how he kept his face as bland as possible, he thought he managed to pull off the whole 'cold indifference' look off almost as well as Tsukishima.

He reluctantly had to give the snippy four-eyes some credit. It was a whole lot harder than he made it seem.


	3. Chapter 3

The final bell summoning students to their respective classrooms rang out across the grounds of Karasuno High, yet Nishinoya Yuu had no plan to heed it. He wandered aimlessly, trying to focus on minute things through the windows he passed in an attempt to keep his mind off the fact that he had just ended what he and Asahi supposedly had.

'_How can I go to class now, when I'll probably start bawling my eyes out any minute now… geez, that's so unmanly, I need to find somewhere to hide for a while.' _

Not paying attention to the world in front of him, Nishinoya didn't realise he was walking toward Takeda-sensei until he literally walked into him, rebounding backwards and falling on his backside.

The teacher was surprised to say the least when Nishinoya walked into his back, having been stationary as he spoke hurriedly with another teacher, now losing his balance. Unlike Nishinoya however, he managed to keep his upright. Takeda-sensei whipped around, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses up again as a look of concern slid onto his face. "Nishinoya? What are you doing out of class?"

Seeing the way Nishinoya turned his head downwards to avoid his gaze, he asked "Are you okay?" while reaching his arm down to Nishinoya in an offer to help him up, which Nishinoya gladly accepted. If it had been up to him he would have just stayed sitting there, unable to stand by himself. But he really didn't want to break down in the hallway while people pressed their faces against classroom windows to gape. He had a reputation to keep, here.

In response to Takeda-sensei's question, Nishinoya shook his head, surprised at his own honesty. He didn't think he'd have been willing to confide in a teacher, of all people, about his personal problems. 'I must trust Takeda-sensei more than I thought I did.'

Takeda-sensei seemed just as shocked that Nishinoya had let go of his pride and tough demeanour to admit that he wasn't okay, and there was a sharp intake of breath.

"Did you get hurt when you fell? Do you need to go to the health office?" Takeda-sensei peered at him as if looking hard enough would tell him the answer before Nishinoya could verbally. Nishinoya shook his head with a glum little smile. "Nah, I'm not hurt." But then the upturn to his mouth became downturned, his bottom lip uncontrollably quivering. He wasn't crying just yet, but the whole lip-trembling thing just went to show how distraught he was. He croaked past the lump in his throat, threatening to suffocate him. "Excuse me, I just need somewhere private for a while" he said, trying to rush past Takeda-sensei, who seemed to be reeling that Nishinoya Yu, full-time optimist, was breaking down right in front of his eyes. As if on instinct, he caught Nishinoya and ordered kindly "follow me."

Takeda-sensei draped one of his arms protectively over Nishinoya just in time for the libero to bury his face against the man's chest as the first sob wracked him. He could already tell by the rapid snotification of his nose that he was about to have one heck of a cry-fest.

'_Geez, I don't remember being this torn up about something since grade five when that jerk threw my favourite hot-wheels inff a lake.'_

Takeda-sensei seemed to start at the first sob, not expecting it, and he sped up their walking pace. Nishinoya was almost tripping blindly beside him, completely relying on the mousy man for guidance. They stopped all of a sudden, and there was the sound of a door sliding open. They walked a few more steps, Takeda-sensei relinquishing his grip on his student as he turned to close the door behind them, locking it. Nishinoya looked at the room, vaguely curious, through his bleary eyes. It was a conference room.

"Take a seat" Takeda-sensei gently encouraged. Nishinoya happily obliged, his already weak legs giving out rapidly as he thunked onto one of the cushioned chairs. Hidden away from unwanted eyes and ears now, Nishinoya let the flood gates open. It wasn't very attractive in the slightest. His face seemed to implode and crumple in on itself, thick warm tears streaking his cheeks. He angrily buried his face in his arms, wiping the tears, but it was useless. Try wiping one away and two more took its place. He settled for just hiding his face, more than a little ashamed at the way his nose began dripping profusely.

As if uncertain of what to do in this situation, Takeda-sensei pulled up the chair beside Nishinoya, patting his back and rubbing in soothing circles and crooning "shhh, shhh, it's ok, just let it all out and you can tell me what happened later."

Nishinoya managed to reign in his sudden outburst relatively quickly. Less than fifteen minutes. When he'd lost his hot-wheels he'd cried for hours until he just dropped to sleep and woke up fine, albeit puffy-eyed and lacking his favourite hot-wheels. He hoped this would be the case with how he felt about his lost relationship with Asahi, though it had never seemed like much of one in the first place.

Trumpeting his nose into a tissue Takeda-sensei had retrieved from a nearby office, Nishinoya felt like part of a weight had been lifted off his chest, but now he was completely ashamed for having shown such a weak side of himself. It was obvious Takeda-sensei was disturbed by it.

"Sorry for making you worry, it's no big deal," he spoke, voice hoarse. He tried clearing his throat, which felt and sounded a little better. "Honestly, I just need to be alone. You don't need to stress about anything. I'll get over it myself." He tried forcing his usual grin, but he just knew it came off closer to a grimace.

Takeda-sensei's expression softened, almost like pity, which made Nishinoya feel all the more ashamed. "That wasn't nothing, Nishinoya. Of course I'm going to worry, even if you tell me not to."

Nishinoya turned his face down, shuffling uncomfortably as he stared at the thread-bare carpet as if it held the answers to the universe.

"I understand that if you're upset you wouldn't want to talk about it, but sometimes it's better to confide in someone than to keep it all bottled up. I promise that whatever it is, I'll listen and not tell anyone unless it means keeping you safe. It's not that bad, is it?"

Nishinoya's heart twinged, wanting to tell him desperately but at the same time extremely reluctant to do so.

Nishinoya's breath hitched slightly, and felt his face warm with welling emotion once again, attempting to keep it in check. '_He's probably right though.'_

Nishinoya was concerned whether or not he could tell a teacher, however trustworthy, about this sort of relationship. It was troublesome because he and Asahi were both guys, and with many people that didn't seem to go over too well. Hesitating before replying, Nishinoya mumbled "it's something you probably can't help me with, anyway."

Takeda-sensei gave Nishinoya an earnest look that said 'are you sure?' while aloud he spoke "If you feel like you can't tell me right this moment… I'm always here for when you're ready."

The bespectacled teacher's words felt almost like a physical pull, and before he realised he was saying anything Nishinoya ashamedly sighed "it's just some relationship problems. See, there's nothing you can do."

If Takeda-sensei had seemed taken aback at Nishinoya's breakdown, he seemed equally so at this revelation. "R-relationship? As in, dating?"

Nishinoya rankled slightly, not sure if he should be offended at his teacher's blatant shock.

"Oh, no! I didn't mean anything rude by that! Please, forgive my surprise. I mean, I just didn't expect it. Not that I'm saying you're not perfectly capable of having a relationship," Takeda-sensei rushed awkwardly, face tinged pink as he scratched the back of his head.

"But, I do have to admit that I never would have thought a student would tell me about something like this, so I'm really quite flattered actually that you feel you can confide in me."

It was Nishinoya's turn to feel awkward. Takeda-sensei continued.

"It may sound stupid of me, but I always thought everyone in the club was too absorbed in volleyball to worry about this stuff so seriously. If she's made someone as volleyball-mad as you look her way, she must be an amazing girl. No offense meant, calling you volleyball-mad."

Nishinoya gave a little chuckle, slightly amused by Takeda-sensei's awkwardness. "It's true enough to call me volleyball-mad, so no offence taken."

Takeda seemed to visibly relax at the assurance. Nishinoya had to admit, the man had lightened the atmosphere, even if he still hadn't offered any advice so far. Just talking about it was nice, in a way, even though it made him upset.

It must have shown on his face again in the moment of silence, because Takeda-sensei grew more serious. "Down to business. I'm not going to force you to speak, all I can do is offer to listen for now and offer any advice I can, but I can't do that if I don't know what the problem is in the first place."

Nishinoya became acutely aware of the way his heart thudded, suddenly feeling as if he were flailing internally, as if he needed to catch his breath before diving into the serious talk. Takeda-sensei, noting his distress, comforted "Like I said, I'm not going to rush you. If you want to tell me, it's in your own time."

Feeling queasy, Nishinoya mumbled, voice going stronger as he went on "I-it's just, well… it's not that I don't trust you, but I don't really have experience with this stuff and I'm not sure how to go about it. I've never really talked seriously to anyone about feelings and, um… I guess you could say I was pretty serious about… this person."

Takeda-sensei nodded understandingly and continued to just sit there and wait, not urging or pressuring Nishinoya into speaking. His quiet patience gave him the air of a reliable confidant, and Nishinoya began explaining.

"Y'see, there was this person I was going out with… only for the last month, but it wasn't really going well so, um, I guess I'm not going out with that person anymore."

Takeda-sensei, nibbled on his thumbnail for moment, a slight frown on his face before he said "when you said relationship trouble I assumed that you might have had a one-sided crush and been rejected. You _actually_ meant a rocky relationship… I never even noticed it when you and Shimizu became an item."

Nishinoya was taken aback, and made a distressed noise, leaving both of them very confused. "Shimizu would never date me, even if I did like her as more than a friend."

Takeda looked even more confused. "But… she's beautiful, loves volleyball, you're always around her, showing off or just watching her. I was sure it would have been her, considering the puppy-dog eyes you always give her."

Nishinoya nearly laughed, but wanted to clear up the misunderstanding. "well, I mean sure, I watch her, she's pretty. I respect and admire her too, and I have to admit I really do love her, but not as anything more than a friend. Instead of puppy-dog eyes, like you said, I'd say it was more like, hmm… y'know, duckling-eyes. They always follow around their mummy duck, it's no different for me with Shimizu; she's like my mummy duck."

Takeda-sensei stifled a laugh, looking apologetic, but Nishinoya broke into slight laughter as well, genuinely amused at his own analogy. "That sounded so childish" he laughed, and Takeda-sensei, seeing that it was ok for him to laugh after all, joined in whilst nodding in agreement. It felt really good to laugh, it made him feel lighter. They laughed for a solid minute before wiping their eyes and rubbing at their sides, with Takeda-sensei continuing, "but now you've got me curious, I must admit. Shimizu was just the first girl I thought of, I didn't mean to assume. After all, she's close to the team and beautiful. You and Tanaka seemed especially attached to her, as well. Sorry for prying, but is it another girl from your class?"

Nishinoya grimaced and shook his head. '_Not even a girl,' _he thought, but when he realised the slack-jawed look Takeda-sensei was now giving him, he realised he'd said that out loud. Nishinoya slapped a hand onto his forehead, leaning back and groaning in shame. "Now I understand why people say I don't think before I speak."

Peeking through his fingers to gauge his teacher's reaction, Nishinoya felt how warm his face was after blurting that out. He could only hope his teacher wasn't disgusted with him. He had heard his classmates laughing about homosexuality, or simply saying how revolting they found it. But Takeda-sensei only seemed thoughtful, not disgusted. "Hmmm… Hinata?"

"What? No way. _I'm_ not the one dating him." Nishinoya was tempted to hit himself a second time. He had just unintentionally revealed that his junior was in fact dating someone. Takeda-sensei didn't broach the subject, thankfully.

"O-oh, I just remembered how you're all over him, spoiling him all the time and showing off. Not saying you're a show-off."

Nishinoya smirked, not unkindly. "Y'know, sometimes I think you have a way with words, but right now it makes me think twice," chuckled Nishinoya, and Takeda-sensei looked highly indignant, if not slightly amused that Nishinoya was regaining some of his joking normalcy.

Kneading his hands in anxiety, he thought '_I may as well come out with it. Takeda-sensei doesn't seem to mind.'_

"I-it's, um, Asahi… I was dating."

Takeda-sensei nodded, as if it made perfect sense now that he knew. "That was going to be my next guess. He would have been my first if I didn't know how shy he is… Still a little strange to think of someone like that actually having the courage to date someone."

Something about that made Nishinoya uneasy, his gut roiling. "Now that you've mentioned it…"

Takeda looked on expectantly, waiting for Nishinoya to continue. Suddenly feeling guilty as realisation flooded over him, Nishinoya couldn't avoid acknowledging how he'd so stupidly overlooked something so incredibly vital. The depression gushed over him again, bringing him to the verge of breaking down once more. "I can't believe how stupid I am. I made a huge mistake. It's all my fault." He leaned forward, gently banging his head on the conference table that dominated most of the room.

Takeda-sensei began to grow flustered again, confused as to why Nishinoya had reverted to a state of upset. "Did I say something wrong?"

Nishinoya shook his head, replying "I just realised something, when you said that about Asahi. I don't blame you for saying it… You just helped me realize how slow I am."

Takeda-sensei waited impatiently for Nishinoya to elaborate, obviously upset that something he'd said had caused this reaction.

Nishinoya managed to keep himself reigned in this time, just needing to take a few deep breaths. He felt that he'd rather hide than say anything that incriminated him, but Takeda-sensei was being so earnest and patient. He trusted him not to scold him.

"Well… when Asahi and I started dating, I thought we'd start doing, y'know, couple stuff, like maybe holding hands or k-kissing," his mind flashed to last Thursday and the exchange between Hinata and Kageyama. "I mean, I see all these people who start dating and in no time they're doing that stuff. Of course I wanted to, but Asahi was just, like, avoiding me and stuff. I was getting all impatient, but if I think about it from his view I guess… he might have been nervous, not avoiding me because he hated it. But I just assumed… I was being selfish."

"Hmm… it is natural to want to do that stuff with the one you're dating. I know it's hard to not get impatient, seeing as you guys are young and all, but if you think about it, you being young gives you more opportunity than adults."

"What, opportunity to fuck shit up?" Nishinoya clapped a hand over his mouth, but Takeda-sensei didn't comment on the language.

"In a way, yes."

Nishinoya was taken aback. Takeda-sensei began explaining.

"When you're young, you have to make mistakes in order to learn. Nobody is perfect on their first try. Some mistakes are bigger than others, some hurt more than others, but now you know what you did wrong, right? And now you know what you can do to fix the current problem and avoid that in the future."

Nishinoya contemplated that. He was oh-so-tempted to reject that and self-blame, but he knew he was feeling sorry for himself. "I guess… I understand what you mean. But what if I can't fix it, or keep making the same mistake over and over?"

"You don't know until that comes to pass. We don't know what the future holds, after all, so don't get too caught up on that. Besides, only looking backwards can you see the path that was laid out, so there's no point in getting stuck in the past. If you move on from it, the past is a useful guide to how you make future choices. For now, just make the most of it. Being young I mean."

Nishinoya was silent for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face before he said: "That was pretty deep."

Takeda looked abashed. "It was nothing, just repeating things I've read."

"I feel like you know what you're speaking about, like you've got experience with that."

Takeda sighed. "I guess you could say that. Hard as it may be to believe, I was young once and I made a lot of mistakes. Sometimes I regret not taking every chance that threw itself at me, or doing something spontaneously. Eventually it gets too late to change things and you're stuck with these expectations…" he sighed heavily. "Believe me, I understand your problem much, much better than you'd think."

Nishinoya caught the innuendo. '_Takeda-sensei is gay?_'

It was almost laughable, how all of a sudden everyone he knew seemed to be gay, but it wasn't right to laugh at people's honest emotions. He had heard rumours that every 1 in 10 people were gay. Maybe it was just coincidence a few of them were gathered at Karasuno, and somewhere else there were no-one who was gay.

The pair of them sighed, and Nishinoya apologised. "Sorry, I'm probably making you remember things you'd rather not."

Takeda waved it away. "It's a little difficult, but I've had plenty of time to come to terms with things. Besides, I wouldn't be able to help you if I had no experience with heartache."

"I appreciate it. You're a nice guy."

Takeda was abashed, once again. "I'm just doing my best to help."

"and it means a lot to me."

Takeda-sensei seemed to become a little emotional. "And that means a lot to me."

Nishinoya smiled at his teacher. They'd become closer in the last hour than they had in the prior 6 months. Takeda-sensei returned the smile.

"So, now that we've had this talk, are you going to talk to Asahi and try clear things up?"

Nishinoya already felt daunted at the notion, face paling.

"If you want to clear things up you can't leave it too long, otherwise it just gets harder."

Nishinoya understood that mentally, but he couldn't imagine himself confronting Asahi, even if he was supposed to be the bravest of the two. He'd been foolish and he didn't want to admit that when it had consequences like these. Assuming Asahi actually did like him, he'd probably hurt him, too. He didn't want to face that, but knew there was no option. He nodded.

Takeda-sensei pet him on the shoulder. "You're stressed, so I wouldn't expect you to want to go to class today, and I won't force you to. Would you prefer to go home early? I could make arrangements with your teachers for the rest of today…"

He was tempted but… Nishinoya shook his head. "I can't miss the opportunity to talk to Asahi later… If I leave it like this, I wouldn't be happy at all."

Takeda wore an expression of pride as he clapped a hand on the libero's shoulder, making Nishinoya blush. "I know this is hard for you, but I know you'll try. It takes a great deal of humility to admit that you might have done something wrong. I can respect that."

After a moment, Takeda-sensei withdrew his hand from Nishinoya's shoulder and said "so, I still doubt you want to go to class. Would you prefer to wait in the infirmary until it's a good time?"

Nishinoya considered the options. If he went home, he was likely to lose all courage and not come back. He'd totally wimp out about confronting Asahi. "I'll stay in the infirmary."

Takeda-sensei nodded with an "I'll talk to your teachers for today, then." The bespectacled man walked Nishinoya to the infirmary before leaving him in peace, rushing off to apologize for being late to 2nd period.


	4. Chapter 4

Despite having slept fitfully all week Nishinoya could not catch those few hours of much needed sleep. He needed to be well rested and on his game to prepare for the trial of making up with Asahi, and he had nothing else to do in the infirmary, anyway.

When he finally did manage to doze off it was restless, barely dozing. He could feel the wrenching of his gut the entire time, influencing his imaginings of scenarios and turning them into flashes of nightmare. He couldn't seem to stop himself from, one way or another, seeing the situation end terribly.

Nishinoya wasn't certain whether it was more of a relief or more painful to be woken from these nightmares by an unmistakable too-loud voice carrying through the curtains at lunchtime. "Is Nishinoya Yuu-san still here? We were told he was sick and wanted to see how he is," Hinata worried, to which the school nurse replied "shh, voices down… last time I checked he was sleeping, so now might not be a good t-" but Nishinoya croakily cut in "come on in, then." The scratchiness of his voice heightened the illusion that he was unwell, which he was grateful for.

He repositioned the hard, flat pillows so he could prop himself upright on the gurney as Erina-sensei drew aside the medical green curtains with a scraping clatter, admitting the small group into the cubicle.

Immediately Hinata began rushing to Nishinoya, appearing to be mid-leap when he realized that jumping onto a sick person might not be the best idea. He tottered forward on one foot, arms windmilling before he caught his balance. A corner of Nishinoya's mouth upturned in amusement. Daichi, Sugawara and Ennoshita followed the two first-years in. It was upon noticing that Asahi wasn't there that the small smile took on a forced quality.

Sugawara explained "no-one saw you around at recess. Tsukishima had Takeda-sensei for Literature in third and figured he'd know where you were, being club advisor and all, so he asked and let the rest of us know."

Nishinoya barely heard, too distracted by the way his heart sank with the lack of Asahi's presence. He hardly registered the surprise that everyone seemed to be sharing at the fact that cold Tsukishima, of all people, had taken the initiative to ask about the wellbeing of one of the teammates he supposedly despised.

Trying to seem as if the answer didn't concern him, Nishinoya reached over to steal Hinata's bento-box, taking out one of the octopus sausages and munching on it as he nonchalantly asked "so where's Asahi?" and last minute "everyone else, too?"

"Asahi…" hummed Sugawara thoughtfully, before shrugging. He looked to Daichi, who also shrugged with an expression that said 'no clue.' "Everyone else though," he continued "thought there wouldn't be enough room. It was going to be only me and Daichi coming at first, but these three insisted" he gestured with his thumb to where Ennoshita, Hinata and Kageyama stood.

Disquiet tugged at Sugawara's brows as if it were just occurring to him, "but Asahi, now that I think about it… we have chemistry together in first period but I didn't see him."

Daichi added worriedly "he didn't show up to our history class in third and fourth either. I haven't seen him at all since practice this morning. He didn't even join us at lunch today, like he usually does."

Nishinoya's gut flip-flopped with discomfort and his forced smile crumbled away completely. Daichi's eyes narrowed as his observant eyes picked that up, and Nishinoya knew the captain was scrutinizing the faint remaining blotchiness on his cheeks and the puffiness of his eyes. Nishinoya broke eye contact, hoping he wouldn't figure out that the sudden illness was a lie. Looking to everyone else now, he noticed the overwhelming aura of agitation that everyone seemed to have. '_I'm just overthinking it. It's not _that _obvious that I've been crying, right?'_

Thank God for Ennoshita, who supplied "looks like you've got some pretty bad hay-fever or something?"

Grateful for the excuse, which everyone latched on to, Nishinoya pondered "uh, yeah… I walked pass the gardening club on my way to class and there was this weird flower. Guess I was allergic" he ended with a rueful smile.

Daichi's lips thinned markedly, and Nishinoya almost interpreted it as anger, but after a second appraisal realized his captain was troubled. Though his voice was steady as ever as he said "it's lucky we had this afternoon as a planned day off already. Better make the most of today and tomorrow to rest and get better before Sunday."

Nishinoya nodded curtly as if that had been an order, twinging internally with guilt for making them worry. "I'll be sure to not stress myself out too much. You two will probably be practising later even though we're supposed to be having an R and R break," Nishinoya jested to the first-year duo. They looked only the smallest bit bashful but didn't attempt to deny it. '_I know why Takeda-sensei thinks we're a bunch of volleyball nuts; because we are._'

As silence extended the libero began "so, Tsukishima…?"

Hinata grinned evilly as he exclaimed, gesticulating wildly the entire time, "I know, right? I went to him about it and he was being a total tsundere, saying stuff like 'I only did it because Yamaguchi told me to.' Then Yamaguchi told me he actually didn't and Tsukishima might not be as much of an asshole as I thought he was." The way Hinata impersonated Tsukishima was admittedly hilarious.

Kageyama frowned, crossing his arms over his chest as he argued "who are you talking about? The Tsukishima I know is a four-eyed prick. Besides, where's your proof? I didn't hear Yamaguchi say that, therefore, no frickin' way."

"Aww, he really did say it though!" whined Hinata defensively.

"Gonna need some proof," insisted Kageyama.

"What, you expect me to record when I'm talking to people all the time? Of course I have no proof! I can't get it now!" the orange-haired spiker huffed.

"Just sayin' I don't believe you," concluded Kageyama simply.

Hinata pouted as if he wanted to dispute more but couldn't think of anything else to say without going around in circles.

Ennoshita piped up from behind everyone else "you know, Kageyama, Tsukishima isn't really that bad a guy."

Nishinoya never knew it was possible for Kageyama to look so incredulous. "But… but he's a total dick!"

Ennoshita chuckled and hesitantly retorted "maybe he treats you the way you treat him."

Even Nishinoya got a giggle as everyone else broke down in fits of hysteric laughter at the gobsmacked expression Kageyama donned, as if he'd never even considered that.

The banter continued for the remaining 30 or so minutes of lunch, Nishinoya repeatedly lapsed into silence, only occasionally chipping in when it felt like everyone was starting to take note of the unfamiliarity of it.

At last, the bell called them back to class and the curtains were drawn closed with a polyester whisper, leaving Nishinoya in solitude once more.

He anxiously checked the time on his phone, insides squirming as he noted there was less than 3 hours until school finished and the time came to face Asahi.

Following lunch time, it was nigh on impossible for Nishinoya to get back to dozing. He tossed and turned, the same bad scenario's playing out in his head over and over until he was feeling legitimately nauseous.

When the end of day bell rung out across the grounds, stampedes of feet soon passing by the infirmary soon after, Nishinoya whimpered. The thought of the task ahead tortured him. All he wanted to do was bury himself beneath the thin, scratchy blanket and procrastinate what needed to be done, but he knew now was the best and only time. If they hadn't worked everything out by Sunday, their teamwork could be affected and they'd be huge burdens during the practice match. He didn't want to abandon his mission today because he knew he would make some excuse to avoid forcing himself to go see Asahi at his own home tomorrow.

'_I gotta go see Asahi. I gotta go see Asahi. Remember what Takeda-sensei said, don't leave it for later. I gotta go see Asahi. I've got to speak to him._' It took him nearly five minutes of this mantra to build up enough of his will just to sit up on the bed, with a few self-derisive insults thrown in to get him to stand up. He kept the mantra running as he quickly stopped by his locker to grab his backpack, throwing it over one shoulder as he breathed deeply in an attempt to calm the intense thrumming of his heart. At some point his hands had started shaking and it took him 4 attempts to fit the lock back into place.

Half hoping and half afraid that he'd delayed too long and Asahi was gone for the weekend, Nishinoya power-walked the rest of the way to the front gate. On the way, a guy from his class waved farewell as he headed to soccer club. Nishinoya forced a weak smile and returned the gesture.

There weren't many students left within the school grounds now except those who attended demanding clubs. A large number were gathered at the bus stop further down the road, but most had already been picked up by parents or begun walking home. Nishinoya checked the time again. '_3:26…'_ Gut roiling with a new ferocity, Nishinoya vaguely remembered that he had eaten nothing all day except the octopus sausage he'd stolen from Hinata. He'd skimped on breakfast because he'd been too distracted and nauseated by how he was planning to end things with Asahi. Now, after bringing that goal to fruition, he was trying to reverse the huge mistake he'd made.

'_Come on, self. Toughen up. You're not in elementary school anymore, you're a grown man now. You can't back out of something a little difficult. If you really like Asahi you can do this, you can definitely talk it out with him. I just need to open my mouth, make some sounds... That's all talking is. Not that hard, right?'_

He was more nerve-wracked than he tended to be before volleyball games. Though those had been more thrilling than anything, this… this was a little bit of apprehension mixed with doubt, distress and fear.

He wiped his sweaty hands on his rumpled white button-down shirt, pacing back and forth along a short distance of fence to keep occupied. The feeling of wanting to make a run for it only intensified when Asahi rounded a corner, head down, and started in his direction.

'_Deep breath… breathe… pull yourself together, man!_'

With Asahi less than 20 feet away, it took every ounce of determination Nishinoya possessed to remain. As the distance between them rapidly shortened, Nishinoya could see the way Asahi's shoulders slumped more than usual and sense the overwhelming aura of misery he emanated. He knew it could very well be all his fault.

Nishinoya's determination grew marginally. '_If I'm the one who made him upset, it's my duty as a man to make amends.'_

Squaring his shoulders, Nishinoya called more weakly than he hoped "now a good time?"

The giant startled, wide eyes darting up to meet Nishinoya's. After a moment he wilted again and looked away, fiddling with the straps of his backpack as he heaved his wide shoulders into a defeated shrug that made him seem more fragile than he looked.

Nishinoya was uneasy seeing his Ace in such a state. The only time he'd appeared as gloomy as he did now was after losing that match to Date Kogyo, the one which had prompted Asahi to quit volleyball for a time.

Clearing his throat, Nishinoya steadily repeated "now a good time? I… I feel like we should talk."

Silence.

"Somewhere more private maybe?" prompted Nishinoya uncertainly.

Asahi grunted, which the libero took as consent. Without further discussion, Asahi lowered his head once again and resumed walking. Nishinoya instinctively took pursuit. Within minutes he figured they were heading to Asahi's house.

'_That was easy enough… just gotta make some more words and it'll work out…'_

Nishinoya's gut clenched violently.

'_Fuck, who am I kidding, this next bit is going to be so much more difficult.'_


	5. Chapter 5

The walk between the school and Asahi's house took on average 20 minutes, yet today that time seemed to extend into eternity. There was a strained cloud of silence clinging around them as they walked. Relief and fear flooded Nishinoya as keys finally jangled and clicked the front door open.

Asahi's house was almost like a second home to Nishinoya since first year, he'd been there so often, but now he felt as if he were a foreign being that should not be allowed admittance.

Slipping of his shoes and dumping his backpack at the entry foyer, Nishinoya muttered a polite 'sorry for the intrusion.'

Asahi cast a brief glance over his shoulder as he headed to the kitchen and answered edgily "nobody's home."

There was a time when this would be the ultimate opportunity to make a move, but the odds of that happening with things as uncomfortably tense as they were was very slim. He didn't like to, but Nishinoya imagined that the only thing odds were in favour of right now was a loud argument. It wasn't impossible. After all, he never would have guessed that he'd break down so suddenly and powerfully. What was to say Asahi wasn't capable of raising his voice when impassioned? Not to mention the Ace seemed disgruntled and short-tempered at the moment, which only added to the foreboding.

In an attempt to break the insufferable silence, Nishinoya ventured "So, uh, where are your parents?" even though he already knew the answer.

Asahi grumbled "they've gone a cruise for their 25th anniversary. Remember, they've been planning it for months. Drink?"

"Uh, sure, water's fine" answered Nishinoya feebly.

Asahi didn't meet Nishinoya's eyes once as he reached for the overhead cupboard, retrieving one and filling it from a jug in the refrigerator. He slid the glass across the surface of the kitchen island to Nishinoya on the stool side, who furrowed his brows at the disconcerting way Asahi was passive-aggressively putting distance between them.

Nishinoya watched the broad back facing him as Asahi preoccupied himself with putting away dishes, looking at the way a few delicate strands of his long, tied back hair was escaping from his bun and drifting over the collar of his shirt, clinging to the fabric. They both wore the normal school uniform, white button-down shirt and black slacks. Personally, Nishinoya liked the slight translucency of the white shirts, especially on Asahi. He could see the outlines of his well-defined muscles and the way they slid beneath his olive skin. Any other time he would have been distracted by the pleasing sight, but now all Nishinoya could think was how indescribably irritated he was. '_He's frickin' rearranging the cupboards for no reason other than to not look at me!'_

He bit back his indignant '_scared of my face or something?'_ with the thought '_Remember what Takeda-sensei said. Asahi doesn't have much courage. I can't go putting my selfish expectations on him. If I start snapping at him I'll only make him more reluctant to talk to me.'_

Even though he could barely swallow past the lump in his throat, Nishinoya forced down another mouthful of water.

Surprisingly enough, Asahi was the one to break the silence. "This morning…"

Apprehensively, Nishinoya prompted "yeah?"

Asahi had stilled, and feebly said "after that, I skipped class all day."

The way the giant's voice had gone scratchy made Nishinoya's heart clench in guilt. He clenched his fist on the counter in front of him until his knuckles whitened, trying to steady his voice as he replied "me too." Despite his attempts, his voice came out wobbly.

Asahi turned to face him, expression harrowed and drawn. The libero felt agonized just looking at how anguished the older boy looked as he choked in strained voice "so you meant it, then?"

Unable to reply past the glue that suddenly closed his throat, Nishinoya remained silent. Asahi seemed to assume that was an affirmative and the moment he assumed that, his implosion was palpable. As if unable to remain standing, Asahi braced all of weight on the island countertop, which seemed much too short for someone his height. His head hung heavily down, his shoulders up around his ears. It almost looked as if he weren't breathing.

In a dead voice barely restraining hurt, Asahi started "Well I guess that was what we needed to talk about? Door's waiting for you."

'_Did he just tell me to get out?'_

Nishinoya remained seated, slamming his fists on the bench as his voice cracked with irritation at himself, his fretting finally motivating him to more loudly than intended dissent "I didn't mean it, ok?"

Asahi jumped at the sudden volume, standing upright and finally daring to meet eyes with Nishinoya for the first time in weeks at the revelation. Injured, Asahi snapped in a similarly louder voice "if you didn't mean it, why would you say it in the first place?"

'_Called it. Knew he would yell.' _ His prediction coming true brought Nishinoya no comfort.

"I can't… It's hard to explain" defended Nishinoya feebly.

Now it was Asahi's turn to slam a fist on the counter, but his face portrayed more pain than anger. "Well then try your best to explain! That really… you really hurt me, Nishinoya!"

Nishinoya's eyes stung with remorse. "I'm sorry ok? I… I thought you hated me, and I couldn't stand it. I know now that I was being selfish and not considering you. I get it now, and I'm sorry."

Asahi gave an uncharacteristically cruel humourless snort, and it stung Nishinoya. Exasperatedly he began "how could you think I would hate you? If you had just spoken to me-"

Nishinoya interrupted loudly, suddenly mad. "That's what the problem was, Asahi! It was impossible to talk to you when you kept running away! When you avoided me like some sort of plague! Of course I was going to start thinking you hated me!"

Despite looking highly awkward, Asahi didn't back down, which was astounding really. "So tell me then, if I hated you, why do you think I agreed to date you in the first place?"

Nishinoya wasn't accustomed to this Asahi. He was accustomed to soft-voiced, gentle, fragile Asahi who avoided any and all disputes. Yet here he was, speaking vehemently in a slightly raised voice.

What the older brunette said halted the libero for a moment. In a quiet voice he said "what… I'm still totally confused. If that _is _the case, then why _were_ you avoiding me?"

It was now Asahi's turn to hesitate. He diverted his gaze once more, and Nishinoya was almost ticked off before he noticed how Asahi was fidgeting and how the tips of his ears had gone pink.

Suffering second-hand embarrassment from something he didn't even know about, Nishinoya squirmed as his own face grew a degree warmer. He insisted petulantly "what?"

Asahi whirled around again so he was no longer facing Nishinoya and continued fiddling with the utensils in the cupboards. Impatient to know what on earth was going on, Nishinoya wandered around the kitchen island to stand behind Asahi, jabbing him in the ribs with a finger. "Oi, I'm gonna keep feeling like a pathetic fool and hating myself until you explain" he pointed out sternly.

Asahi twitched as if he'd been scolded for being naughty, and turned to give a huffy nervous reply. Once he'd turned, Nishinoya took the opportunity to swoop in and pin the tall brunette against the bench to cut off escape, gauging his reaction as he stared intensely into the older boys eyes.

Asahi grew more than a little flustered, and even though the libero was as well, it was also exhilarating to be pressed so close to the Ace. Nishinoya didn't break his heated, forceful gaze, trying to appear demanding. He really did want to know what was going through Asahi's head, and he'd be damned if he gave up before getting that information.

It didn't take long for Asahi's resolve to crumble, and face beet red, he lifted one of his massive hands to cover the lower half of his face as he mumbled something inaudible. Nishinoya tilted his head slightly, confused. "Huh? I didn't catch that."

Asahi weakly resisted as Nishinoya gently grabbed the older boys wrist to drag it away from his face. Asahi pleaded in a strained tone "just give me some space, okay? Please."

Nishinoya felt like he'd been getting somewhere for a moment, but the rug was pulled out from beneath him and he stumbled back as if he'd been slapped. Asahi looked like a fish, blubbering reassurances at the stung expression Nishinoya wore. "It's not because I don't want you near me! It's just…I was…"

"Grossed out?" supplied Nishinoya, vindicated. "Listen I know you don't like upsetting people, but you don't need to lie about liking me just to make me feel better. If you keep that up you'll only end up hurting me more so just cut it out alre-"

Asahi whined desperately "that's not it!"

Nishinoya quieted, waiting for him to continue.

Asahi breathed a put-upon sigh. "I was getting a little turned on, ok? Did you have to make me say it?"

'_Oh…_'

Nishinoya felt like the personification of an erupting volcano as blood rushed to his face. He wasn't expecting Asahi to say any more, but he shakily continued "I-I was avoiding you because… dammit… I couldn't look you in the face after… after I… you know… got off while thinking about you..."

'_Has summer come early or am I just over-heating?'_

Nishinoya squeaked in his throat, not quite sure how to respond to being told something like that. His mind had become blank, and all he could think of to say was "so… huh? I was turning you on? _You?"_

Asahi gave a tortured groan as he slid down the counter slightly, legs shaking visibly. "I'm sorry, it must… it must be weird."

"Well… I just thought you were too… I don't know… soft to so easily be…" Nishinoya leaned back on the island counter, unable to bring himself to continue. All his courage had fled him.

Asahi looked somewhat offended. "I know I'm shy and gutless, but that doesn't make me impotent. I am a normal guy."

Nishinoya swallowed with a dry click as he subconsciously took a step forward, reaching out to Asahi who finally looked back to him as if expecting to find disgust turned his way. Seeing that wasn't the case at all, his eyes widened slightly at the expression Nishinoya donned.

Nishinoya felt a different kind of hungry, and a sly, tentative grin crossed his mouth as he shuffled ever closer as if he were a carnivore single-mindedly stalking his prey.

Asahi's agitation increased markedly as he huskily croaked "t-that's only going to make it worse," pulling his shirt down to undoubtedly cover something.

"Hmm," purred Nishinoya. '_Am I doing this whole flirting thing right?_' "Y'know, I've thought about you while doing it a fair few times now" he admitted, placing his flat palm just below Asahi's collarbone, tracing little circles with his thumb.

Asahi looked anywhere but Nishinoya's face, scratching at his stubbled chin as he breathily and totally unconvincingly asked "Um… C-could you maybe stop with… all this."

Nishinoya closed the final bit of super-charged distance between them, pressing their bodies flush together. Nishinoya barely came up to Asahi's chin, so he snaked one of his arms around behind the Ace and slithered his hand up to the older boys nape and edged his head downward where their lips briefly met. Teeth clashed painfully through skin and Nishinoya winced, Asahi sharply inhaling in shock and tenderness. "Ouch, I think my mouth is bleeding a little" Asahi said as he experimentally ran his tongue around his mouth, tasting the tangy wound. "Mmhm, it is."

He moved to escape, but Nishinoya kept him trapped against the bench, once again drawing the taller boy's face to meet his own. This time, Nishinoya brushed his own tongue against Asahi's lip, encouraging him to open himself to the kiss. He met with little resistance.

Asahi sighed into the kiss, tension draining out of his shoulders as he wrestled his tongue with Nishinoya's. He could taste the blood in Asahi's mouth… that was sort of erotic.

It seemed to have been eternity by the time Asahi falteringly laid his hands on the libero's waist, making the junior shudder and needily deepen the kiss, wriggling to urge a firmer grasp. Asahi obliged with a muffled hum, drawing them so close they could feel the others erratic heart pounding.

Lightheaded, Nishinoya pulled back a little, panting lightly.

Asahi nuzzled Nishinoya's hair, rumbling in a deeper than usual voice "does this mean we're dating again, or does one of us need to ask first to make it official?"

Nishinoya chuckled breathlessly, for the first time in weeks giddy. Playfully he intoned "Asahi Azumane, I've fallen hopelessly in love with you, so would you do me the honour of becoming my boyfriend? Whatdya say, how do you feel about me?"

Asahi purred and seemed to melt as he fully wrapped his arms around Nishinoya, squeezing the air out of him before loosening his embrace. "I say done deal 'cause I love you too."

Nishinoya giggled merrily, returning the bear-hug. They stood like that for a minute before Asahi spoke.

"I just realized something."

"Hm?"

"You never said you liked me before, that first time," teased Asahi.

Nishinoya screwed up his face, recalling. "No way, I'm sure I did…"

Asahi shook his head with a rumbling chuckle that made Nishinoya's gut do trapeze.

"I… I didn't?!"


	6. Chapter 6 - Prologue

Following the one hour practice session, immediately afterwards the Karasuno volleyball team habitually began in the direction of the Foothill Store.

Daichi and Sugawara were currently in the middle of discussing ways to improve certain plays, focusing particularly on personal relationships between players. An incident during practice had prompted this discussion, in which Tanaka had been paying too much attention dishing out curses at Tsukishima to notice a ball from the other side of the net, resulting in it smacking him in the back of the head and sending him slamming face-first into the floorboards. Tsukishima had laughed and an all-out brawl between the two had nearly been the outcome. Rowdy Tanaka and snickering Tsukishima had been taken to the club rooms to be scolded by an unnervingly calmly enraged Daichi, who had gotten in the way of one of Tanaka's swinging fists in his attempt to restrain him.

When the two had re-entered the gym following Daichi, they looked as if they'd just been forced to witness a gruesome murder. They bowed and apologized meekly for they trouble they had caused.

For the remainder of practice, which admittedly wasn't very long, and clean-up afterwards, Daichi forced the two to sit on the side-lines holding hands as punishment.

Nishinoya, Hinata and Yamaguchi took the opportunity to snap some photo's exclaiming 'this is yearbook material!' in hysterics.

During clean-up, everyone else on the team held a whispered meeting, and each admitted (out of Daichi's earshot, of course) that they thought the punishment a little strange. Though they didn't dare question their split-lipped captain when he was in such an obviously foul mood.

Tanaka, disgruntled, was mostly silent walking at the rear of the group as he muttered colourfully under his breath. Tsukishima seemed unaffected, but when Kageyama started telling Hinata he was surprised at how skilfully he still managed to screw up receives he didn't add a snide remark, showing otherwise.

Nishinoya glanced up at Asahi, who was smiling in that endearing way as he softly reminded Kageyama and Hinata what their punishment would be if they fought. They ceased squabbling immediately.

Nishinoya's heart skipped a beat watching Asahi as he smiled. He averted his eyes before his face started to turn pink. A welcome distraction presented itself as he remembered, yelling boisterously "Ah! I wanted to get new knee braces!" stopping in his tracks. "Sorry, you guys on without me. Stores start closing around 6, so I can't hang around. Later!" he waved, turning in the opposite direction toward the train station.

'_The next train leaves at 4:45, and right now it is._..' he opened his phone, nearly dropping it as he realised the time. Out lead he proclaimed with dread "shit! The next train leaves in 3 minutes!" He started running and only got a few steps before he heard Asahi call "wait! I'll come with you. My runners are wearing pretty thin. I don't want to be caught with no shoes in the middle of practice," he explained apologetically as he jogged to catch up with the libero. Nishinoya's heart skipped a beat as the thought '_just the two of us going shopping is kind of date-like, right?!_' flashed into his mind. He ignored the thought and commanded "keep up or we're gonna miss he train! The next one comes at 5:50 and I don't have time to wait," breaking into sprint. Asahi kept up easily enough. If anything, it was Asahi that should have been telling Nishinoya to keep up. He paced himself to the smaller boy's shorter strides without complaint.

They raced through the ticket gates before confronting a dense, cacophonous crowd, mostly heading in the opposite direction. They were likely workers headed home from a day at the office. Either way, they would have to force their way against the assaulting tide of bodies.

Nishinoya could see the screen above showing the time-table as it read that their train was preparing to depart. He cursed out loud, charging single-mindedly into the throng. So much so that he didn't notice Asahi getting separated further and further from him amongst the crowd. It took every ounce of effort for the short second-year to pry his way.

Asahi peered over the heads of the crowd, searching for the spiky-haired libero, but he had no such luck. He made his way in the general direction of the train they were supposed to be boarding to the shopping district, hoping that he would be reunited with Nishinoya as they got on board. Pausing for a moment outside the doors he frantically searched. '_Is he still stuck in the crowd? Wait, maybe he's already on board?_' Asahi promptly boarded the train. Searching both ways down the corridor of carriages, Nishinoya was nowhere to be found. His heart gave a panicked squeeze.

Asahi hadn't realized that his hair had mostly come undone from its bun and was hanging disarrayed around his head, giving him the appearance of a crazed delinquent and making the few people in his carriage back away with frightened, intimidated looks on their faces. At any other time he might have felt offended or hurt, but he was more worried about Nishinoya's whereabouts. '_Should I get off and wait for him?_'

A chime echoed over the speakers, followed by a woman's calm voice signalling that the doors were closing. There was a sound of rushing air as the automatic doors shuddered, preparing to move.

Like a baseball shot out of a batting machine, Nishinoya shot between the decreasing gap with just enough time, literally bowling Asahi over and landing atop him. As he scrambled away he apologized profusely, standing up before realizing that the person he'd collided with had been his team-mate. He was breathing heavily, hair mussed and eyes wide, his voice quivering as he accused "I thought... You were leaving me behind."

Asahi's face displayed how startled he was and Nishinoya's face turned scarlet. The smaller boy then proceeded to act as if he hadn't said anything and, with an angry scowl at Asahi, heavily plonked himself on a nearby unoccupied seat. He crossed his arms grumpily across his chest, frowning.

Asahi opened his mouth to apologize, but Nishinoya stopped him with a sharp glare. Asahi flinched, mostly out of shock. '_What? He's really angry?'_ He was disoriented by the usually cheerful Nishinoya's behaviour. The only time he recalled the libero being seriously mad at him was when he'd told him he would be quitting volleyball.

Unable to bring himself to sit beside Nishinoya unless permitted, Asahi sat on the opposite side of the carriage. It was one of those town-bus carriages where the seats were lining the wall, facing the opposite side.

Asahi dropped into his seat as the train started moving with high-pitched whines, contemplating Nishinoya, uncomprehending of how he could be so upset about getting separated. It wasn't like he was kid. Well, appearance-wise he was occasionally mistaken for one, but that wasn't important here. "Nishinoya?" Asahi broached, nervously twiddling his thumbs. "I'm sorry for getting separated. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry that I made you angry at me."

The train finally stopped grating too much on the tracks, and it began rocking gently back and forth like a crib as it reached cruising speed.

It wasn't unusual for timid Asahi to be apologetic, but a certain frantic tone in the older boy's voice caught Nishinoya off guard, and he couldn't prevent himself from taking a quick peek at his upperclassman. Asahi looked disoriented, solemn and frantic all at once. '_What am I thinking, letting him feel like that? Of course he was worried about me, too. I'm his friend_.' Nishinoya thought the word 'friend' with a certain bitterness.

The frantic aura Asahi was emitting was probably half to blame on his escaped and wild brown hair. Nishinoya's heart constricted with guilt as he stood with an "I'm not angry at you. I was just being stupid" and a forced smile he was hoping would convince Asahi. He proceeded to cross the aisle and loudly sit on the plastic-covered seat beside Asahi. As casually as he could, Nishinoya continued "now look this way." He drew his knees up onto the seat and knelt, so that when Asahi obeyed without question they were directly facing one another.

Nishinoya reached around behind Asahi's head with both hands, letting loose the rest of his hair as he released the hair-tie barely binding it. Nishinoya felt his heart begin to speed up at the proximity, and try as he might to clear his mind or distract himself, a faint warmth crept into his cheeks. He re-tied the Ace's hair into its bun as quickly as possible, trying not to focus too much on the sensation of Asahi's soft hair running between his fingers. It was still a little damp at the roots with faint perspiration from practice and the sprint to the station.

Nishinoya was friendly by nature, but it was a little out of character for him to do such an intimate thing. '_He totally could have done that himself! Why did I do that instead of just telling him to fix his goddamn hair?!'_ Nishinoya inwardly chastised. However, with a sneaky glance, it appeared Asahi didn't seem to pay it much mind. He looked around, sighing in relief that there was no-one watching to increase his self-consciousness. In fact, he and Asahi curiously enough seemed to be the only two passengers in the otherwise empty car, though Nishinoya could see a small number of people occupying the adjacent cars. Recalling how people were easily afraid of Asahi in his normal state, the wild look he'd had a few moments ago was certain to have been the cause of the carriages abandonment.

Finishing tightening the hair-tie, Nishinoya drew his hand away, somewhat reluctant. "There," he said, and with a flourish he tapped Asahi playfully up-side the head. Asahi winced, mostly out of surprise, and just smiled in that uncertain air-headed way he had. Not disturbed in the slightest.

A little sulky, the smaller boy tapped the older boy on the other side of his head again. He'd been lying when he said he wasn't upset. He really was a little displeased that Asahi had left him behind, unintentionally or otherwise. Not to mention that Asahi's reactions to Nishinoya proved further that his feelings toward the elder boy were unrequited. Asahi just chuckled softly, maybe a little confused, but made no comment.

Nishinoya repositioned himself to sit normally in his seat beside Asahi, which meant putting a 'friendly' distance between them. He crossed his arms again, face growing hotter in embarrassment as he thought '_I was hoping it would be more date-like, but our outing seems off to a bad start. Who would lose their date in a crowd?! Not to mention before it's even started!_' he stopped himself short before he began an unfair mental rant. '_Hold up, it isn't really a date. Just because I like Asahi doesn't give me the right to automatically assume he's thinking the same thing I am. He doesn't like me the way I like him, so why should he?_' but that just made Nishinoya feel depressed.

Asahi noticed the faint tinge of pink to Nishinoya's face and put it down to him being irritated. He _was_ frowning up a storm.

What really puzzled Asahi though was that even when he was upset Nishinoya usually had _something_ to say. However, this time he remained silent. The rest of the twenty minute journey passed in the same fashion. Asahi wasn't the best at striking up conversation even _with_ a good atmosphere. He'd rather wait for someone else to start talking.

As they disembarked Nishinoya began, as casually as possible: "I'm really looking forward to just the two of us hanging out. Not that I mean anything else by it! It's just... Been a while, y'know?"

Asahi was confused, but he just nodded and smiled in agreement. '_What other meaning could it have?_' he wondered as they approached the station exit.

Nishinoya looked up at him for the first time, and Asahi realized he had spoken out loud. The older boy smiled sheepishly, and Nishinoya answered with a mechanical smile and laugh "none at all! It's normal for best friends to hang out! But we've been busy with practice lately and haven't hung out in forever..." As soon as he'd finished speaking Nishinoya averted his gaze to the ground in front of his feet, becoming downcast.

Leaving the station, Asahi tentatively started: "s-so, which way did you want to go...?" Nishinoya jolted into action, flipping his phone open unenthusiastically, going to Google maps. He'd saved the co-ordinates earlier to make navigating easier. Without a word Nishinoya started walking, Asahi in tow.

He led them on to the main road and a couple of left and rights later the pair arrived at a sports good store. It was almost 5:30 pm, giving them half an hour or so to do their shopping.

Entering the air conditioned store, Nishinoya made a beeline for the knee braces, browsing the brands until he found the one he usually got. Asahi headed for the shoes section, eying the collection. In no time he caught himself staring out the corner of his eyes at Nishinoya instead, distracted from his task.

His junior had struck up a conversation with the clerk behind the counter and was smiling excitedly like his normal self again. Hurriedly looking back to the shoe wall, Asahi gripped the sneaker in his hand tightly, a little jealous. Unbidden, he thought '_why does he smile with that person when wasn't even smiling with me?_'

Perturbed at his sudden thought and the sensation in his gut, Asahi chose the next pair in his size without paying any attention to the design. He just wanted to leave this store with the handsome clerk who made Nishinoya look so happy. '_I shouldn't think so selfishly. As long as he's happy, I should be happy too. We're good friends._'

After he paid for his new sneakers, Nishinoya didn't budge. Instead he continued his cheery conversation with the store clerk, who happened to be a volleyball enthusiast. As a result, Asahi was forced to stand around third-wheeling, shuffling his feet uncomfortably until the store clerk apologetically told them that he had to start closing up. Watching Nishinoya become so delighted with someone that wasn't him was making Asahi mildly upset. He was relieved that Nishinoya was smiling again, but it was just... '_All I did was upset him, and this person cheered him up so easily.'_

Asahi was glad to leave the store. '_At least he's back to normal now,_' thought Asahi positively as he glanced sideways at his junior, though he was still slightly rankled.

Nishinoya barely came up to his shoulder. He was so small but he was the best libero around, with a surprisingly well-built body to match his passion for athletics. He was tough, determined, uplifting and honest. Asahi admired and was simultaneously envious of that freedom of confidence. And sometimes, just sometimes, Nishinoya was cute. Like how he was cute now, raving passionately about the things he'd talked about with the store clerk, his eyes shining as he gesticulated wildly. Asahi found himself smiling, and his heart sped up a little. Consternated, he frowned a little, but didn't get the chance to think about it too much as Nishinoya suddenly stopped with an "Ah!" pointing at a small cafe across the street. Asahi stopped as well, looking.

It was one of those tiny stores that crammed between two bigger stores, reminiscent of an alley-way make-over. But Nishinoya seemed filled with jubilation as he pointed, exclaiming: "I recognize the name! Mum said they have this incredible hot-chocolate you never want to stop drinking! And it stays open 'til 8! She wouldn't stop talking about it." Without warning Nishinoya's hand darted out, wrapping around the taller boys wrist as the smaller boy led him across the road. His thin fingers could barely bracelet the older boy's wrist.

Asahi's heart started beating even faster. '_This has been happening a lot lately. What's wrong with me?_' He didn't want Nishinoya to notice how fast his pulse was at his wrist. Luckily, he seemed to be entirely focused on the little cafe. He couldn't stop staring at Nishinoya's back as he confidently led the way.

They walked through the door of the cafe and a bell above the door gave a sweet tinkle to welcome them. A small family exited as the pair entered, leaving them as the only customers.

The cafe was small enough to not have an outdoor dining area. There were only two four-seater tables pushed against the wall and three two-seater tables closer to the window that took up the majority of the store-front. The two seat tables weren't so much tables as they were upright barrels. It was a little odd, but it gave off a cosy country feeling. Nishinoya led Asahi to one of these two seat tables by the window, lit up by the orange sun outside.

The seats were basically bar-stools and were a little high, so when Nishinoya climbed up on one his legs dangled into space, nowhere close enough to reaching the ground. Asahi burst into a fit of chuckling. "What?" questioned Nishinoya indignantly, peering up at Asahi with huge brown eyes. A frown crossed his brow as he said "whatever, I'm sitting at one of the normal tables-" he was about to slide off the chair when Asahi unconsciously reached out, grabbing hold of the smaller boys wrist. Nishinoya could have easily pulled away from such a tender grip, but he didn't. He just persevered with looking offended and grouchy.

The smaller boys wrist felt so delicate in his large hand, but he didn't want to dwell on it, or how his heart was still pounding. "Come on, stay with me, this is a good spot," he smiled encouragingly.

Nishinoya swallowed a lump in his throat, feeling his face heat up worse than he could remember. '_If we were going out, that would sound a bit like a proposal... Or something. Get out of my head, depressingly cheesy relationship thoughts!'_

He repositioned himself properly in his seat again, mumbling as he looked away: "but I look ridiculous on this thing. I feel like a kid."

A waitress chose that moment to appear, clip-board in hand, and they each ordered a hot chocolate. Nishinoya blanched as he shuffled through his wallet to pay. "Sorry, I'll have to cancel mine-"

But Asahi had already handed over the required amount of money for both.

"Asahi, you didn't have to pay for mine, too!" exclaimed Nishinoya, emphasising his point with a light tap on Asahi's upper arm as the waitress left.

Asahi just smiled, scratching at his scarce beard. "It's no problem. You spent your money on your knee braces and you looked like you were looking forward to trying out this place. I had some money left over, so stop worrying about it. Besides..." he paused, earnestly smiling as he continued "I just wanted to make you happy. It'd make me happy, too."

Nishinoya had no response to that. '_How can he come right out with such a thing? _'Once again he had to remind himself '_he doesn't like me, so he doesn't think of it as having any other meaning, like I do. He isn't aware of what he's saying_.' Nishinoya was still blushing furiously, but he tried acting like he didn't notice the fact as he gratefully said 'thank-you' before quickly studying the patterns in the table-tops woodgrain.

Asahi got flustered, like he always did when someone thanked or complimented him. Nishinoya smirked happily, and he had to hide his mouth. '_How can someone so masculine-looking manage to be so cute at the same time?_'

As an attempt to distract himself, and because he really was curious, Nishinoya said "Oh yeah, I didn't see your new sneakers. Can I?" Asahi consented, reaching for the handles of his shopping bag, pulling it up onto the table and exposing his brand new runners. "So cool!" beamed Nishinoya as he picked one up, examining it closely from all angles.

Asahi took the opportunity to study the excitable Nishinoya, propping his chin on his hand as a smile quirked up the edge of his mouth. Nishinoya noticed, but pretended not to. At least, until he could no longer drag out how long he was admiring the sneakers. He snapped nervously at Asahi "stop looking at me with such a weird face." Asahi jumped. "W-what do you mean weird?" he asked, feeling his face all over. Nishinoya laughed. "You were day-dreaming in my direction with this goofy smile! Careful or I might think you were staring at me!" Asahi looked puzzled as he replied simply "but I was staring at you?"

The waitress who'd taken their order placed their hot chocolates in front of them. Neither had noticed she was there and jumped at the clinking of ceramic. She was blushing as if she'd just interrupted a romantic conversation. Nishinoya stammered "i-it's not-" but couldn't finish as she bustled off.

Nishinoya awkwardly sipped at his hot chocolate. Waitress forgotten, his face lit up as if as if he'd just found gold.

Asahi sipped at his too. It really was the best damn hot chocolate he'd ever had. He'd only ever tasted the powdered stuff before, but this tasted as if it had real chocolate melted into it. And there were little marshmallows! He rolled his eyes in delight, humming.

They continued sipping at their drinks. Asahi kept glancing at Nishinoya, contemplating. '_Why am I acting this way? Seeing him upset makes me upset, and seeing him happy makes me happy. That should be pretty normal for friends though, right?'_

'…_But there's something strange… I want to be the one who makes him happy? It's almost like I want to monopolize him or something, haha.'_ Asahi glanced at Nishinoya for the 30th time. He currently had his eyes closed, both hands wrapped around the mug, smiling serenely as if in bliss.

_'Not to mention my heart goes crazy when he smiles. And I think he's cute; but who wouldn't? ARGH! I'm just... so confused...' _

The grip on his mug tightened. Like a cold gust of wind knocking the air out of his lungs, everything stopped for a fraction of a second as Asahi understood.

'_Am I... In love with Nishinoya?_'

Nishinoya snapped him out of his reverie as he began speaking. "We've known each-other for a while now, yeah? And we get along really well." Asahi nodded in agreement, still unable to say anything in light of his epiphany. He went to sip his drink but noticed the mug was empty. '_How should I act? I've never been interested in guy before. I mean, I'm still not sure I like him yet-_' but before he could continue thinking Nishinoya casually continued: "so what d'you say to going out with me?"

Asahi nearly choked, but he played it off as a sneeze. Ashamed, Asahi lowered his head. "But we are out," he answered lamely. _'Am I acting weird? Did he notice already? Is that why he's asking?'_

Nishinoya sighed in exasperation. "You dummy, that's not what I mean. Do I have to spell it out for you? What I mean is why don't we try being... more than friends?"

As if a plume of powder had been blown on the older boys face, Asahi's face turned scarlet. He hid his face in his hands in a futile attempt to hide his embarrassment. Nishinoya chuckled, sipping on hot chocolate, looking completely unaffected except for a light blush high up on his cheeks. Probably second-hand embarrassment, Asahi thought. The younger boy didn't seem serious at all. He'd asked so nonchalantly… That kind of stung.

"You know, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to, it just occurred to me is all. So I thought I see no reason we shouldn't give it a go," teased Nishinoya. Asahi swallowed, ignoring the turmoil between his thoughts and emotions that seemed to be taking place in his gut, looking up into Nishinoya's face and saying with all sincerity "okay."

'_He doesn't seem serious, so why not? It's not like I'm going to get another opportunity like this to figure out how I look at him, so I may as well accept and... If it turns out I do like him then maybe I can get him to feel the same way about me eventually.'_

Now it was Nishinoya's turn to choke on his hot chocolate. After a fit of coughing that made his eyes water, he gazed up through his wet eyelashes, a not-mean smirk on his face as he said "whoa, seriously?"

Asahi smiled, abashed, casting his eyes off to the side. Behind the counter he spotted the waitress that had served them peeking up over the counter, but she ducked down again as she realized she'd been spotted. "Uh, I guess so."

Nishinoya laughed. "So we're dating now?" he said, disbelief colouring his tone.

The word 'dating' echoing in his mind, Asahi looked down, fiddling with his hands in his lap as his heart did a back-flip. He just nodded in response to his underclassman, afraid to speak. Sure, he might not even be certain that he liked his underclassman yet, but there was something familiar about the feeling already. That just further embarrassed the Asahi.

Nishinoya began, "well, alright then. Probably best to keep quiet about it in club though. Not that I mind if you want to tell them." Asahi peeked up, observing that Nishinoya was back to finishing off the remnants of his hot chocolate. He had to admit that it was probably best to keep it quiet. It elicited an ache within him, but nonetheless he was still happy to label himself as someone's boyfriend for the first time.

As if brushing over their new change in relationship status, Nishinoya changed topic. "I wonder if Daichi is going to keep doing that strange 'holding hands' punishment for those who get into arguments. If he does who do you reckon will fail first? I think if it's not Kageyama and Hinata, pretty much anyone and Tsukishima is a possibility. What do you think?" Betting was soon to follow.


	7. Chapter 7

Nishinoya buried his face in Asahi's shirt and lamented "how could you ever be interested in dumbass like me?"

With his ear pressed against Asahi's chest Nishinoya could hear the quickened pounding of his heart, momentarily blocked out by the rumbling laugh he let out as he ruffled Nishinoya's hair.

Nishinoya went to lift his face and the huge palm atop his scalp firmly kept him where he was. Palpably flustered, Asahi started "I'm probably making a really stupid face right now."

"Huh?"

"I mean, I'm just… really… happy" mumbled Asahi.

Nishinoya went 'psht' as he swatted Asahi's hand playfully away. "So what, I am too" he retorted, raising his face to stare Asahi dead in the eye. The pair blushed more furiously at the awkwardness of the situation. Indeed, each was wearing a giddy, apprehensive grin.

Asahi's smile was replaced with a look of lust as he let his arms slide down to once again rest his palms on Nishinoya's slender waist, hungry eyes following the same track. The libero's eyes wandered down also, only to find that Asahi hadn't been lying about being turned on. Nishinoya yelped deep in his throat, half terrified. He didn't know whether he wanted to get more intimate or hightail.

Asahi noted Nishinoya's apprehensiveness, craning his neck forward to plant a ticklish kiss lightly on the younger boy's neck before drawing away again. One of his hands cupped the smaller boys chin and lifted his face so their eyes met. Asahi looked uncertain and jittery. "Sorry… I-I can't help it."

Nishinoya shook his head as if to say 'don't apologize.' After all, he understood the predicament only too well. The kiss on his neck had been unexpectedly arousing and caused his own slacks to grow a little uncomfortable. Determined, Nishinoya pressed impossibly closer to Asahi, their legs now meshed as he grabbed a fistful of Asahi's hair which had come loose mysteriously. With a handhold, Nishinoya dragged Asahi's mouth down, where he proceeded to devour it with gusto.

Asahi gave an irritated sort of groan as his hand returned to the waist, both tightening their grip. Nishinoya wantonly encouraged the spiker to let loose, rolling his body against the place he knew all too well drove men half to madness. Asahi gasped and his grip tightened to the point it seemed he would leave bruises. He was huffing into Nishinoya's mouth shakily as he struggled to remain still.

Lost in the moment with the overwhelming urge to see how Asahi would react, Nishinoya bit softly on his lower lip. At once those huge hands found their way further down to knead the smaller boys' ass. The first shock almost tickled, but then those hands began guiding Nishinoya's rolling into a rhythm. '_Ohhhh fuck this has got me going_' thought Nishinoya hazily. Simultaneously, Asahi voiced the thought. Nishinoya grunted his agreement, using the upward momentum of Asahi's movement to bring his legs up around the older boys' waist.

Losing his balance momentarily, Asahi stumbled forward, and would have collided with the bench if one of his arms hadn't extended forward. In the process, a wire fruit-basket half full of apples and oranges were sent racing across the ground with a chorus of thuds. Sitting atop the kitchen island now, hips at a perfect height to align with Asahi's, Nishinoya relinquished his grip on the older boy to prop himself backwards, legs still wound vice-like around his hips. The libero wriggled until he at last felt some pressure on the right spot. "What are you… wow" groaned Asahi as Nishinoya subconsciously hitched his groin harder against the other. Nishinoya let out a small noise of pleasure at first friction and lowered his face, abashed, only to have another noise brought forth as Asahi repeated the motion. He peered curiously at the older boy, who was already staring back at him as he propped his hands either side of Nishinoya, leaning forward to reattach their mouths.

Nishinoya's eyes fluttered shut as a bubble burst in his chest. After a moment, they detached to catch their breath and Nishinoya took the opportunity to bury his face into Asahi's neck just above his collar bone. Experimentally, he firmly pressed his open lips to the skin and begun sucking and nibbling at the thin skin. The older brunettes' hips twitched forward, accidental at first. There was no doubt he was enjoying this immensely as he repeated the motion a second… third… fourth time.

As the sensations grew more intense and desperate, Nishinoya couldn't help but wonder if how hard he was sucking at Asahi's neck hurt. He could no longer control the pressure of his nibbles either, which has become bites. The older boy didn't say anything though, until suddenly he stopped. "I need a minute" he defended, breath hitching.

'_Oh…'_

After waiting for a minute and getting uncomfortable, Nishinoya shuffled to readjust, but with his legs still twined around Asahi the older boy slumped as he whimpered pitifully "don't do that to me, I'm not calm enough yet."

Nishinoya couldn't contain the devilish smirk as he repeated a similar action, using a hand on the back of Asahi's neck to draw himself up and bite unintentionally hard at the same spot on his neck. "Stop…" whimpered Asahi breathily. Nishinoya had been going to apologize before Asahi said that with so little force it almost sounded like the opposite meaning.

"So you like being bitten?" teased Nishinoya.

Flustered, Asahi stammered "I-I don't know! Maybe! Is that so weird?"

Nishinoya shook his head, nuzzling into Asahi's neck and planting light kisses from collarbone to jaw to mouth, against which he roughly mumbled "I like riling you up." Sitting up straighter, Nishinoya took his turn to do all the moving, tangling his hand in long brown hair. Asahi growled, an aggressive noise that clashed with the Asahi everyone knew. If Nishinoya were standing, his knees would have given out at the fierce, deep kiss Asahi gave him.

Nishinoya moaned a strangled "I had no idea… _you_ could get so… hot and heavy" through breaks in the kiss. Asahi pulled back to look at him querulously. "You're shy… and innocent… not so…. Intense." His last word was a drawn out hiss as Asahi returned the gesture of sucking at his neck. Nishinoya hummed at the sensation of nibbling at the sensitive skin that sent tingles jolting through his limbs.

"Would some dirty talk be okay?" Nishinoya asked before he realized his lips were moving.

Asahi stilled, relinquishing his suction on Nishinoya's neck with a wet pop as he hummed in consideration. His heavy lidded seductive eyes stared into Nishinoya's as one hand moved to resume a slow massage of Nishinoya's ass. "why, what did you have in mind?"

Nishinoya's face turned impossibly redder and he averted his eyes. Asahi was being so surprisingly…sexy. Having never intended to say anything in the first place, Nishinoya answered "just forget it, a line just popped into my head and it's stupid. I never meant to say anything, so… besides, I don't wanna freak you out."

"Aw but now I'm curious" whispered Asahi against Nishinoya's ear in a gravelly voice, giving a languorous rut of his hips. Nishinoya gasped in surprised pleasure.

Asahi cooed in a tempting tone "come on, I promise I won't laugh or anything."

Nishinoya gulped and brought his mouth to Asahi's ear, mumbling "I'm gonna suck your dick like you're sucking on my neck."

There was no immediate response, and for a moment Nishinoya's heart got so fast it was all white noise in his ears, then Asahi dropped his forehead on Nishinoya's shoulder with a drawn out longing noise. "Oh god, what a tease… please keep your word on that" he croaked, jolting his hips forward.

This time when they resumed their grinding it was more intense than before; faster, harder, more erratic, blinding. Nishinoya fumbled until his hands found their way beneath Asahi's shirt, winding their way up his back slowly. His fingertips brushed over those wondrous muscles that writhed beneath his skin, awed at how they flexed as he moved and at the goose-pimples patterning Asahi's skin.

Completely absorbed in the actions of the other, they huffed and whined softly as the need in the moment escalated. With the throbbing in his groin growing steadily more intense, signalling that he was fast approaching fulfilment, Nishinoya grunted in a wispy voice "we should…really…stop."

The older boy didn't seem to have heard, relentlessly continuing.

With a helpless keen Nishinoya scraped his nails painfully down Asahi's back as he breathlessly demanded more loudly and urgently "stop! For fuck sake stop!"

Asahi obliged. Panting heavily, his expression was as if he were a starving dog being told to wait.

Defensive, Nishinoya pouted breathlessly "what, were you just planning to make me cum while I'm in your kitchen?"

Asahi's dazedly replied "no?" before his expression turned to bashful realization. "Sorry."

The dangerous precipice of orgasm ebbing, Nishinoya's eyes strayed downward to see how the tent Asahi was pitching had doubled in size since the start. He could only imagine how constricting the tight fabric was for something like _that_.

'_That myth that big guys have big dicks seems to be true here'_ Nishinoya observed.

Asahi stammered out apprehensively "D-do you… wanna, I dunno, continue this elsewhere then?"

His mental voice and external voice were the same, an overwhelming "fuck YES, I'm ready for sex."

Asahi frantically tried to cover Nishinoya's mouth to shush him, reverting to his fragile ways momentarily. Nishinoya burst out laughing at his reaction.

"I-it's just… saying that… s-sex… are we really gonna…? Oh god I'm so embarrassed now for some reason" squeaked Asahi. A little unnerved, Nishinoya asked "so, you still want to continue or…?"

With no hesitation Asahi responded "heck yeah."


	8. Chapter 8

Without breaking lip contact the pair stumbled into the bedroom, Asahi kicking the door shut behind them. Immediately he began to unbutton Nishinoya's white shirt as the younger backed toward the bed in the opposite corner of the room, hands on the older boy's waist prompting him to follow.

"Hang on a sec" Asahi mumbled between sloppy kisses, rubbing circles with his thumbs on the rises of Nishinoya's hips. Nishinoya pouted but paused, hands lingering before Asahi wandered to the window, flustered as he drew the heavy curtains closed. With the late afternoon light now cut off, the room grew much dimmer. Without sight, Nishinoya became all too aware of how fast he was breathing, how hard his heart was beating.

When Asahi slowly felt his way back over to Nishinoya, eyes adjusting to the sudden darkness, the tension between them sizzled and popped.

Gently at first they resumed kissing, clutching to one another. In no time at all, the intensity was more than it had been out in the kitchen, though they restrained themselves better. With a certain calmness not belying his eagerness, Asahi undid the last button on Nishinoya's shirt.

Shrugging it and the under singlet off carelessly in the centre of the room, the libero now returned the favour.

With deliberate slowness he released Asahi's first three buttons, pausing to slide his hand beneath one layer of fabric to find the singlet beneath. This he also slid his hand beneath, feeling a few scratchy hairs on the older boy's chest. Peculiarly enough, Nishinoya found this exciting. Growling animal-like deep in his throat as he nipped at Asahi's lower lip. '_What a man…'_

Asahi's hands pressed him closer in response, the older boy huffing and hard as ever.

Nishinoya took a tentative step back, with each step undoing another of Asahi's buttons until at last the backs of his knees made contact with the bed, forcing him tumbling down. Asahi was better balanced but was dragged down also, one knee on the edge of the bed while his other foot remained planted. Having put out his arms to brace himself, Asahi now had Nishinoya caged in. Though sheets of dark hair fell around his face, obscuring details from his expression, Nishinoya could feel the fervour of the older boy's gaze.

Nishinoya's hands strolled up from Asahi's hips, feeling their way over tensed abs and pectorals, following collarbones to shoulders, massing for a moment slipping the older boys offending shirt off.

The spiker straightened momentarily as he removed the singlet, throwing it haphazardly aside. Lowering to his elbows to swoop down and reinitiate kissing.

Nishinoya's hands wandered down Asahi's back to resume their place at the older boy's waist. That was, until he had a _much_ better idea.

He crooked his fingers into Asahi's belt loops, wriggling the slacks down a few inches until they were lower than the waist band on his underwear. Distracted, Asahi stopped kissing, dropping his head to rest on Nishinoya's shoulder. "Don't get my hopes up" he complained in a pitiful, soft voice.

Nishinoya didn't respond.

Instead, he slid his hands the belt buckle, which he fiddled with for a moment before it clacked metallically undone. He smirked triumphantly at the dry click as Asahi swallowed.

More nervous now, Nishinoya fumbled to undo the button on the pants, clumsy hands struggling to find the zipper. Without warning Asahi had a grip on Nishinoya's wrist. His voice shaking as he confirmed "you don't have to… I mean, this is all happening really fas-"

Nishinoya shut him up with a kiss, grabbing the nape of his neck. Drawing away slightly, Nishinoya stared into Asahi's brown eyes as he stammered idiotically "I l-love you."

'_Fuck! That was soooo lame' _the libero chastised himself.

"Aaaaaaaaah" fretted Asahi, surprised. "I-I love you, too."

Nishinoya couldn't help it. He chuckled as he pecked Asahi on the lips again. '_What an _adorable_ man.'_

Asahi had him instantly rethinking his choice of words.

The older boy worked off his pants, kicking them aside before undoing Nishinoya's.

The libero squirmed properly onto the bed, head now resting on a pillow. Asahi had him more completely trapped as he lowered his groin against Nishinoya's. Experimentally he ground his hips, Nishinoya huffing. '_Only this thin layer…'_

Neither could deny that, with pants removed, they could feel more even with their underwear remaining. Breathlessly they focused so intensely on the friction that they couldn't kiss.

"Holy fuck this is hot… you're hot, goddamn you're hot" panted Nishinoya, nails digging into Asahi's hips to urge him on.

"I could-unh say the same to you-haaa" quipped Asahi.

Nishinoya lifted himself up to nibble quickly at Asahi's neck. Even in this low light, he could see a dark, blotchy bruise already forming. Vaguely he knew he could come to regret leaving it there… but that was a problem for tomorrow's self. Right now all he wanted was to do this.

"Eh?!" exclaimed Asahi with a particular hard grind. Nishinoya grinned and flopped back onto the bed. Eyes having adjusted well to the lack of light now he could guess at the daunting size of Asahi's barely concealed cock. A dark spot of wetness had formed on the underwear. Lust and fear made Nishinoya whispered voice crack. "I don't know if fingers were enough preparation for _that_."

A while back, at least 5 months, Nishinoya had been surfing the net for porn. A gay site had popped up and at the time he'd closed it as fast as he possibly could.

Within a week he was skipping the 'story.' Not long after that he'd started experimenting for himself. In his mind, there was no doubt this accident is what made him more accepting of having feelings for another guy.

Abruptly Asahi drew back, frowning incredulously at Nishinoya. "Does that mean what I think it means?" he asked apprehensively.

"I don't know, what do you think it means?" teased Nishinoya.

Asahi gulped, breaking eye contact as he muttered "you… you've don't stuff 'down there'… with your f-fingers."

Nishinoya hadn't been expecting Asahi to actually say it so bluntly, albeit shyly.

He grew bashful as he grunted an affirmative.

Asahi breathed out heavily, drooping somewhat.

"What?" asked Nishinoya, puzzled.

"That…" he paused. Taking a deep breath, he continued a moment later. "thinking about you doing things like that is almost the whole reason I couldn't bring myself to look you in the face all that time."

Nishinoya must have been giving him one hell of an 'are you serious? _That's_ the reason?' look. Asahi defensively stuttered "I felt like, suuuuuper guilty y'know!"

Nishinoya giggled almost girlishly, blushing as he taunted "oh, that's _precious_."

Asahi pouted his displeasure.

Consoling, Nishinoya cupped Asahi's face in his hands, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"At that time I thought… I thought you would think me doing that was gross."

Nishinoya sighed and confessed "I'm pretty sure I was thinking about you long before you were thinking about me."

Asahi's only response was a squeaky "oh."

Nishinoya snickered to hide his embarrassment, embracing Asahi who muttered huffily "damn… now I can't stop thinking about what it looks like when you do it."

Nishinoya's blood froze for a second. Swallowing past a lump in his throat he said as courageously as possible "swap places with me."

Asahi looked at him dopily. "Huh?"

"Just do it!" bossed Nishinoya, foreseen shame making him snap bashfully.

Asahi obliged, lying back on the bed where Nishinoya had been a moment ago. Propping himself on his elbows, he watched as Nishinoya straddled his legs, bending forward slightly, poised above Asahi's groin before glancing up to tell him "don't look!"

Realization dawned on Asahi's face then. He didn't need to be told twice, elbows collapsing out from under him. He used his arms to hastily cover his face, mumbling keenly "oh god… oh god oh god oh god."

Nishinoya breathed deeply, bracing himself for what he was about to do. Sure, he'd imagined it and actually did want to try it, but it was a lot different when a huge dick was right in front of your face. He massaged the insides of Asahi's thighs, gradually edging upwards.

"T-take as much time as you need!" squeaked Asahi.

Nishinoya's fingertips brushed the hem of his underwear, and a barrier seemed to have been crossed. Tentatively, he slid a finger beneath the fabric. Withdrawing it and instead rubbing circles with his thumbs on highest point of Asahi's thighs just centimetres away from rubbing against his balls. Nishinoya had by now overcome his fear of touching Asahi's bare dick with his hands, but it felt so good to be in control like this. Asahi was breathing heavily, his dick visibly twitching as Nishinoya intentionally teased him. He snuck all of his fingers beneath the hem of Asahi's underwear, creeping slowly up to nudge sensitive balls.

Nishinoya heard the older boy's breath catch. He used his thumb to brush the underside at the base of Asahi's dick, drawing away again before giving him too much. He found himself enjoying this immensely, especially when Asahi whined "Ohhhh you're so doing this on purpose. You're killing me, here…"

Nishinoya held a grin in check as he completely withdrew his hands, only for a second later to be pulling the briefs down completely. Shuffling, he removed them from around Asahi's ankles, throwing them aside to join the rest of their discarded clothing on the floor.

Asahi's bare dick stood rigid from amongst thick, dark hair. He was so hard the foreskin had almost completely pulled back by itself. Nishinoya helped with that.

The smaller boy encircled the shaft halfway along, easily leaving an inch or more visible at the base and tip. He estimated Asahi's dick to be at least seven inches. He didn't know why that riled him up, but it did.

With a firm grip Nishinoya pumped upwards, almost covering the tip with foreskin again before quickly pulling it all the way back. Asahi grunted and thrust upwards minutely. He repeated the action several times, finding it all alluring. Before he knew what he was doing Nishinoya ran his tongue softly over Asahi's glans.

The older boy choked on his breath.

Nishinoya peeked up. Asahi had his eyes clenched shut, fistfuls of his pillow in each hand.

Nishinoya palmed at Asahi's balls, once again ducking down to this time take the entirety of the smooth, swollen pink head into his mouth. It was an odd taste, but not unbearable.

Using just two fingers to teasingly pump at the base of his dick, Nishinoya circled Asahi's glans with his tongue. Still palming the older boy's balls, Nishinoya bobbed his head down slightly, bobbing back up before ducking down again to take a little more into his mouth. Each time he moved his mouth down Asahi's shaft, he took a little more of the length into his mouth, hollowing out his cheeks to get better suction. Gradually he had half of his cock in his mouth, and already it was tickling the back of his throat. With an obscene wet pop Nishinoya released Asahi's dick, wiping at the saliva around his mouth.

Asahi groaned heartily, at last opening his eyes to look at Nishinoya. "That… was pretty good. Is this…?"

"My first time? Of course! I've just… imagined it a lot" retorted Nishinoya, giving Asahi's cock a languorous pump.

"Still no looking" reminded Nishinoya, going back down to once again take Asahi into his mouth. This time it was much quicker to take more, but… '_I wonder how he'll react if I deep-throat?'_

Bobbin upwards, Nishinoya took a preparatory breath. Without giving Asahi any notice, he bobbed down whilst exhaling until his nose touched the older boys treasure trail. It was a little uncomfortable, but the keen of pleasure from Asahi made it worthwhile. This time when he repeated the action, Asahi's hands flew to grab handfuls of Nishinoya's hair as his hips jerked violently upward. Surprised, Nishinoya almost gagged. Equally surprising was how well he could actually stop himself from gagging.

"That- that!" groaned Asahi incoherently, but Nishinoya understood. He kept a relatively slow rhythm, but it didn't take long at all for jaw to begin aching.

The hands entwined in Nishinoya's hair gave a sudden tug, forcefully pulling him off Asahi's twitching, dribbling cock. A drop of pre-cum splattered just below Asahi's bellybutton. The older boy sounded almost as if he were in pain as he husked "ohhhhh that was a close call."

Nishinoya had been blushing the entire time, but his face warmed further. Wiping his mouth, he queried "so… it was okay?"

Asahi sounded dismayed as he repeated "okay? I can't even start to… wow. Thank-you."

A sheepish grin crept onto Nishinoya's face.

After a pause, Asahi propped himself up and began again "can I… y'know… do anything for you?"

'_I have something in mind…_' thought Nishinoya, but he mulled over whether Asahi would be willing to do that. He looked to Asahi, considering.

The older boy urged "I'd feel bad making you do that for me and not doing anything in return."

Their eyes locked momentarily before, embarrassed, Nishinoya looked away to stammer "I-it feels really good when… when I hit a certain spot y'know… inside…"

Asahi remained silent.

"You don't have to if you don't want to! I mean, I thought it was weird at first, so I totally understand if you want to get used to the idea for a while, first."

Asahi rushed awkwardly "no no, that's not it! It's just… are you sure? I mean, I don't want to end up making it hurt."

Nishinoya laughed in an attempt to reassure him, moving up to once again straddle Asahi's waist. He tried to ignore the fact that Asahi was completely naked and how much he wished he could get rid of his own underwear.

But he just couldn't.

Nishinoya grew fidgety with uncertainty. "It won't hurt… but- but are you sure you'd be fine with doing that?"

Without reply, Asahi's hands were immediately slipping beneath Nishinoya's briefs waistband, kneading his ass. It tickled at first contact, making Nishinoya jump.

He shivered when a single finger made its way between, rubbing back and forth, slowly making its way downwards to brush against his entrance. It almost tingled, knowledge of what could happen when that digit was inside him already making him needy for more.

Nishinoya pushed back against Asahi's wide palms, welcoming the sensation of that single finger pushing inside him. He'd already known it would be like this, but it wasn't painful at all. When he did this to himself, he could easily fit three fingers. If not for the awkward angle, probably four.

Asahi slipped out of him, rubbing outside the tingling entrance for a minute before sliding just one finger back in.

He didn't want to say anything embarrassing but… '_I knew it.'_

Asahi was teasing him on purpose. He didn't seem to have realized it yet, but there was a mindless hunger in his eyes, devouring Nishinoya's reactions.

'_Is this revenge for me teasing him?'_ Nishinoya found that amusing, but also frustrating. He growled at the voiceless suggestion in Asahi's eyes, knowing it wasn't a suggestion but an order.

Puffing out his cheeks indignantly, Nishinoya reluctantly pleaded "are you gonna keep going with just one finger?"

Asahi barely hid an almost viscous grin that made Nishinoya's own dick throb with want. He wasn't left hanging.

Asahi kissed him softly, at odds with the ferocious, sudden insertion of three of Asahi's fingers. Nishinoya gasped into Asahi's mouth, arching his back inwards with shock. He'd gone straight to the last knuckle all at once. Nishinoya grunted as Asahi powerfully withdrew and thrust the fingers deep again, beginning to scissor them. There was a heaviness in his gut that told Nishinoya he was _so close_ to reaching that spot.

Unsolicited, Nishinoya let forth a whine of irritation and thrust himself onto the fingers. They curled inward with the perfect timing, rubbing against his good spot.

The libero moaned loudly and pitifully as his eyes rolled into his skull.

Hearing the sound he'd made Nishinoya immediately hid the lower half of his face.

Asahi reached up, tugging the hand away tenderly.

Nishinoya sat upright, which distracted them both. This was a _great_ position.

Though Asahi had one problem with it.

"You're too far up" he said nonchalantly, adding a fourth finger.

Nishinoya rutted the air subconsciously. '_Man, he's not even touching there but it feels good just being opened like this.' _Still upright, Nishinoya began moving his hips with seductive intentions.

It seemed to work.

Asahi's eyes glazed over as he imagined how it would feel if instead of his fingers in the tight, wet warmth it was something else. Noticing how frantic and violent his movements had become, coupled with the choked sounds Nishinoya was making, Asahi halted. '_I hope I haven't been hurting him'_ he worried as he barely came to his senses.

Nishinoya slurred "why'd you stop?" The libero's entire body was racked with tiny quivers.

Asahi stammered "y-you sounded like it was starting to hurt…"

Nishinoya tilted his head back in exasperation, huffing before mumbling something inaudible.

"Huh?"

Nishinoya didn't speak, just readjusted himself, moving backwards until Asahi's still solid cock was nestled between his ass.

Asahi almost lost all reason then, but listened as Nishinoya repeated bashfully "What I said was… I wouldn't mind if-if we did something more…"

Asahi jolted upright, Nishinoya jumping off the older boy who rushed to sit on the edge of his bed where he proceeded to rummage through the lowermost drawer of his bedside dresser.

With more than a hint of shame Asahi brought out and displayed a small box. From within he retrieved an unmistakable square foil packet.

Nishinoya gulped, swallowing down his 'we can stop if this is too fast.'

Instead he noted as casually as possible "you wouldn't have gone to buy that yourself."

Asahi replied as read the instructions on the box. "Uhhh, funny story I guess. Dad thought that while he and mum were away I'd bring someone over. He gave me… 'the talk', and got these for me."

Nishinoya found that genuinely amusing, and also somewhat astounding. "Your dad is pretty awesome. Mine hasn't talked to me about any of this stuff, he'd sure as hell never get me… things."

"I guess he's a pretty cool dad," smiled Asahi ruefully, reaching down to get something else. This time, it was a small tube of lube.

'_Well…'_ thought Nishinoya, dumbstruck, '_I wonder how _that _revelation went down.'_ Couldn't have been too bad, otherwise how would Asahi have the lube? Asahi laughed bashfully. "Dad was so surprised when I let slip, I thought he'd hit me for sure."

Asahi spoke while he concentrated to roll the condom on. Nishinoya couldn't help but stare in appreciation for how well-endowed Asahi was, his hand with a mind of its own going to his cock where he slowly pumped it.

His ass was still throbbing from the intense ministrations of earlier, but also with need. "Ahhh I want your dick to fuck me so hard I can't walk tomorrow" he unintentionally let slip.

'…_it's official, I have mouth diarrhoea.'_

Asahi's face whipped around to Nishinoya, where he saw for the first time Nishinoya jacking himself off while he watched him. His throat clicked drily as the first drop of pre-cum entered the now applied condom. He fumbled to open the lube, lathering his length.

Nishinoya watching that rabidly. "Lay down," he rasped.

Asahi did so with a puzzled expression.

"It's easier if the one taking it is in control of pace. This way I can stop if it starts to hurt," he explained, too focused on sitting atop Asahi again to pay attention to what he was spouting.

Asahi lay awkward, panting with excitement as Nishinoya guided his dick upright, thrusting himself around the tip.

The libero gasped harshly, wincing.

"Are you o-" Asahi was unable to finish as Nishinoya dove to kiss him deeply. Asahi didn't complain. He grunted as Nishinoya relaxed and slid further down a few moments later, hands that had been laying at his side appearing on Nishinoya's waist. He wanted desperately to guide the smaller down in one swift go, but knew he would regret it. Instead he kept kissing, helping Nishinoya to relax.

Before he knew it, Nishinoya had Asahi's entire dick inside him.

"See, I just had to take it at my own pace," he smirked, hitching upward shallowly before sinking back down.

Nishinoya barely moved at first, carrying out a slow pace as he reassured over and over 'I'm still just getting used to it. You're pretty big y'know.'

But for Asahi, it was already mind-boggling incredible.

He stretched his neck out, panting as his grip on Nishinoya waist grew urgent. He was barely containing screams of pleasure. To give his vocal cords something to do, he pleaded "Noya… faster… please Noya, faster."

Nishinoya was all too eager, and gave a lascivious grin.

Asahi growled as he came to realize that Nishinoya had been teasing him for some time now.

Without warning, Asahi reversed their positions, licking his lips at the way Nishinoya was displayed in front of him.

Nishinoya lay bewildered on his back as Asahi considerately put a pillow to prop his waist up. Asahi was almost sitting beneath him, and god it was the _perfect_ position. When Asahi moved inside him it was as if he were trying to fuck his dick from behind, and with no trouble he hit the spot.

Nishinoya yelled out wantonly, throwing his head back as he grabbed fistfuls of blanket.

Asahi grunted with every thrust, beginning to growl deep in his chest as Nishinoya called his name and rolled his hips to meet him. The sweat of exertion was making naughty slapping noises, and the lube was making an odd slurping sound when Asahi moved. "I'm… oh fuck I'm gonna cum!" called Nishinoya breathlessly.

Asahi was torn between helping him over the edge by jerking him off while he screwed him or… he stopped, and Nishinoya made a drawn out whimper of complaint. "More…"

"I'm going to make this last as long as I possibly can," whispered Asahi into Nishinoya's ear with a seductive husk.

The libero shuddered, tingles coursing throughout his limbs. '_I'm in for a loooong night._'


End file.
